Home is where the heart is
by storm278
Summary: 10 years after college, Riley has gained a reputation of being a flight risk. Her friends and family have tried to stop her from taking off but truthfully there is only one person that can make her stay for good. what happens when riley sees said person for the first time in 14 years. Rucas centric
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Meet the Gang 10 years' after college….

Riley Matthews is 32 years old. She works as the CFO at Minkus International. Her family bought 'A LOT' of the company shares while she was in college making them part owners to the company along with making a fortune but the Minkus family still own majority of the company shares. After high school she went to Columbia university with Farkle but studied business administration. After graduation from graduate school she and Farkle immediately started working at Minkus international. Riley has taken advantage of the international part of the company by travelling the world doing "business" as she would like to say but there is so much more to that story that only a select few know about.

Maya Hart Matthews also 32 years old is an artist in New York city. She went to NYU with Josh and majored in Art. She has made a name for herself in New York since college. She has opened several galleries around the city and encourages young artists to display their work at her galleries and even sell them as well. She has been married to Josh Matthews since final year of college. They have a three-year-old son named Melvin.

Farkle Minkus 32 years' old now the CEO of Minkus international after the passing of his dad. He went to Columbia with Riley. Being the genius he is, he did a double major of mechanical engineering and computer science. After graduation from graduate school he started working for the company and a few years later he went down to Massachusetts to hunt down his high school sweet heart and the love of his life Isadora Smackle, and married her. They have a pair of four-year-old twins Mason and Valerie. They all live in New York.

Lucas Friar, 33 years old is a veterinarian. He as well has done quite well for himself. He inherited his grandfather's ranch and opened a bunch of animal clinics across the east coast. He went to Texas A&M after high school in New York. He isn't married and tends to get a lot of pressure from his mum about most of his life choices. Being a handsome rich doctor makes him a prime candidate for a lot women and he has dated a lot through the years but none has really stuck _(gees I wonder why)_.

Zay Babineaux, 33 is now a celebrity in chef in Texas. He left New York with his friend Lucas after high school to go to culinary school. He is not married but he has been doing long distance with his high school sweetheart Vanessa who currently lives in New York Ironic right? He also helps Lucas out on the ranch whenever he can.

Isadora Smackle, 31 years old, is a computer engineer. She went to MIT after high school but moved back to New York after Farkle came to find her. She currently works for a tech company in New York and is the mother of a pair of adorable twins Mason and Valerie. Isidora has grown up a lot since high school. She is more socially aware of her surroundings evening though there might be a few hiccups here and there she still has come a long way.

Joshua Matthews, 35. Works for Minkus international. He is the first and only son of Cory and Topanga Matthews. He works as Mechanical Engineer at the company. He is married to Maya and he is the father of Melvin Matthews.

Now that we are all caught let's see what happens next for Riley Matthews

Text messages

 **Riley**

 _Peaches! 911 please come over_

 **Maya**

 _I'm on my way_

 **A/N**

 **Hey guys so this is my very first fanfic. I watched GMW and felt inspired. Please give it a chance.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Maya storms into Riley's pent house after getting a 911 text from her best friend. She marches straight into her bedroom to see the lights turned off and she also hears the brunette crying her eyes out underneath the covers.

"Riley, honey, are you okay I got your text what happened" she says as she turns on the light to get a better view of the situation. Immediately she sees her sister, her mood goes from worried to panicked. She runs across the room to her best friend.

"Riles talk to me what's going on? are you sick? Did someone hurt you? Just give me a name I'll find em"

Riley slowly takes off the cover with tear stained cheeks "Maya it happened again, Charlie," she sobs "he did it again, he promised he would never do it again. I walked in on him and some slut in his office".

Maya immediately hugs are friend and comforts her for several minutes, just allowing Riley to let it all out. "that son of a bitch never deserved you to begin with honey. And no worries, tonight we take care of you tomorrow we can go all psyco crazy on his stupid ass" This made Riley giggled and sniffed back some tears "let's not go all Maya-Ville just yet, we can just throw out his stuff from my place"

"Riley! He hurt you. I have to…" she was cut off by Riley before she could continue "No Maya, you do not have to do anything to him. I blame myself actually".

"No Riley! This isn't your fault. You've been faithful to him for the past 3 years and he cheated on you in return. He's at fault here not you and he has to pay. Maya countered

Riley sat up and propped herself on her pillows "three years' wow, I really stayed with him for that long?"

"Honey I'm as shocked as you are. He was such a creep"

"If I let myself be honest I think after I caught him with Melissa last year I just didn't feel the same way about him anymore but for some odd reason I took him back. I don't know, I guess on some level I just assumed I'll learn to love him and then I opened myself to him again. I was 29 already so I stayed with him. Can you imagine I actually started to feel things for him again. I had hope that maybe he would be the last one you know. God was I stupid" Riley rambled.

Maya knew it was a bold face lie. Maya could admit that Charlie's actions did hurt her best friend but Riley saying she thought Charlie was her 'the one' was nothing far from mendacity. He and the other guys since college have just been place holders in an attempt to forget a certain green eyed doctor. Was she pissed with said doctor? Yes, but he just so happened to have made her best friend very happy a long time ago and for God knows why, Riley has refused to explain the actual reason for their break up. But right now her friend needed her so the story of doctor huckleberry will have to wait. Plus, this was a delicate situation and if not handled properly would mean a horrible reoccurrence happening again

"Honey you are not stupid. Everyone deserves to love and feel loved in return. But can I at least set his stuff on fire. He has some really expensive clothes and shoes here". Maya said with puppy eyes.

Riley sighed with relaxed shoulders and ultimately gave in. "Fine do what you want I don't even care anymore. Please just stay here with me tonight?".

Maya scooted closer to her on the bed and hugged her even closer "I already have Josh watching over Melvin. So girl's night?" Riley cleaned up what was left of her tears "yea I'd love that".

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Maya called Isadora and their childhood friend Darby over to join their girl's night. Fortunately, it was a Friday night and their husbands had so graciously agreed to watch the kids. Actually Farkle, Josh and Yogi had been filled in on the Riley/Charlie situation and all three made sure their wives would be with Riley tonight because they knew a lonely thinking Riley Matthews only leads to her taking off to God knows were again for a long time.

Riley had managed to stay put in New York for the past 3 years because of her relationship with Charlie which has been a new record for her since high school. It started with her breakup with Lucas the night before their high school graduation. She took a year off school. She got invited by their classmate Sarah whose dad happened to work as a captain on a ship set to cruse across the world picking and dropping of passengers. Riley and Sarah joined the crew and sailed for months before Riley docked in Europe and got several jobs while touring the continent. She lived and worked there for the remainder of the year. Maya has yet to forgive Lucas and Sarah because that 'friendly invitation' gave Riley the reputation of being the flight risk of their group. Her take off behaviour continued in college after her breakup with a guy named David, she spent the next 2 semesters abroad. Then after college it became a reoccurring event.

Whenever her heart got broken she would take off for months going on a year and Cory Matthews was glad to fund any trip that would involve taking Riley away from guys as long as she was going to be happy where she was going he didn't care. This was after all his little girl and he would do anything in the world to make sure she was happy. Of course, at the time he thought he was doing it to avoid losing his little girl to the wolves but now with her job at Minus international and her occasional 'business trips' after unfortunate breakups he never gets to see her anymore and he didn't like it one bit until Charlie came around.

After the distress text sent from Riley, Maya saw the signs and informed all their friends of what was inevitably coming.

Darby and Isadora came charging into the penthouse like soldiers on a mission. "Riley!" Darby screamed from while moving around Riley's place. "Riley Grace Matthews where are you"

Maya meandered into the living room "Darbs she's in the bathroom. I sent her to take a bath. She just needs to clear her mind. Smarkle did you get my list"

Isadora smiled and went through the list of items needed for the special girl's night Maya had planned "okay so I have the ice-cream, chocolate, popcorn, scissors, lighter and of course wine, is this to your liking Maya?".

"Perfect" Maya responded

Darby was still very much worried about her friend and her 'take-off' antics in situations like this. She just had to speak up "has she mentioned anything about you know…"

"taking off? no I have not mentioned anything about that" Riley said as she sauntered into the living room. "thanks for coming you guys. It means a lot to me that you guys are here"

Darby quickly went and hugged her friend "please don't leave riley, please Charlie is total d-bag. He never deserved you and he doesn't need to know he caused you so much pain you had to leave the country because of him. I swear I'll set you up with someone new, give me a week. I could even find someone who looks just like Lucas if that would make you stay please Riley don't leave this time." Darby ended her ramble because she just had to breathe. Everyone stayed quiet after that because Darby just let out Lucas' name. Riley felt her heart rate go up just by the mention of his name. She even felt a little dizzy just having flashing images of his face and what could have been had she told him sooner.

It was weird to speak of him with Riley because since high school everyone stayed in touch with each other except for Riley and Lucas. It was kind of an unspoken rule to not speak of him around Riley. She never talked about their breakup not even to Maya.

Farkle just stuck with his theory that the fact that they would be attending separate colleges ignited the fire but he never quite understood why they wouldn't so much as be in the same room with each other let alone sit to have an actual conversation. Lucas never spoke about the situation either. Whenever Zay or Farkle asked he just waves it off and leaves the room almost like the air was sucked out of him whenever anyone brought up the topic of what happened between him and Riley.

Riley finally broke the uncomfortable silence "I see someone is back on those sugar beverages again. Darbs you really should cut back on those drinks and no I do not want a guy right now no matter what he looks like. As for me leaving I will be going to Vancouver and it's not because of Charlie, we are opening a new office there I need to oversee their operations being that it is the first branch we have in that region of the country".

"Pardon my bluntness bubbles but even I know that's a bold face lie" said Isadora as the other girls take their positions on the couches making themselves comfortable for the night

Smackle continued "I know this Charlie incident might be one of the reasons you want to leave but suggesting you going to Vancouver for business is total crap and you are very well aware of it". At this point the girls were willing to say and bring up just about any topic or argument to ensure Riley didn't leave the country even it meant speaking of a certain emerald eyed doctor.

"Oh really Isadora enlighten me why would I possibly want to go to Canada if it wasn't for the company" Riley said being defensive.

"Because someone cough Darbs cough let out the fact that a certain Lucas Friar from Texas will be coming to town next month to in an attempt to expand his business here in Manhattan. Correct me if I am wrong bubbles"

"Smackle you are supposed to hide the message in the cough not actually say the word cough. And I only told Riley with hopes that she would dump Charlie and move on with Lucas" Darby said

"First of all you are wrong and second if this is how my night is going to play out I'm gonna need a drink. Anyone care to join me for Vodka?" Riley said as she walked over to her mini bar and took a shot. "You guys want me to talk fine let's talk. I have moved on from Lucas!" she shouted "I dated Charlie for the past 3 years' I actually loved him hell I've been dating other guys since college if that doesn't say Riley has moved on I don't know what will".

Maya final spoke out "Honey first of all stop speaking about yourself in the third person its weird and second I hate to break it to you but you and I both know you were never going to end up with Charlie Gardner or any other place holder you've hooked up with since college".

"Maya!" Riley said with wide eyes knowing were her friend was taking the conversation

"Riley I've known you my whole life. I've seen you happy and in love and I've seen you with Charlie. There is a clear difference" Maya took Riley's hand and looked her in the eye "Charlie is an asshole we've all know that, you have refused to accept that fact for some reason. But I know you and even if you won't admit it you still love that Texas huckleberry". Riley took back her hand and went to take another shot and just taking in the burn that came with it.

Riley felt like she has had enough Lucas discussion for one night. She never lets herself think of him willingly because thinking about him meant thinking about the events that surrounded the breakup. She has almost let details of their breakup slip out before and she was not about to let that happen tonight. She took another shot and spoke "weren't we supposed to set Charlie's stuff on fire or something"

"Way to change the subject on us Riles" Maya rolled her eyes "and yes we are definitely making a burn fire tonight if only you would let me get my hands on the actual Charlie…"

"Maya! you would take what you get okay".

"Fine but this isn't the end of this"

The girls drove out of the city that night and in true Maya fashion set all Charlie's stuff on fire. Literally every trace of him in Riley's pent house clothes, shoes, gifts, pictures, all the relationship momentous all gone. Riley felt sad about the situation because she knew the girls were right. After all these years of dating all these different men and traveling around the world in search of some kind of happiness in a new place or in someone or in something that could measure up to what she had with he who shall not be named but yet nothing. She wondered the whole ride going and coming back, would she ever get over him? And if so how, because she simply couldn't go on like this it's been fourteen years for God sake. And boy is she desperate because she just had to find a way. He seemed to have moved on years ago quite nicely so why couldn't she.

At the end of the night Riley had sworn all the girls to secrecy about her impending move.

 **A/N**

 **Thanks for reading so I'll love to hear what you think. Please follow or favorite for future chapters.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It had been a month since the girl's night so the girls just assumed Riley decided not to go and the storm had passed since Riley was in a much better place now. Well people can dream right. Little did they know Riley used the month to secretly prepare for her move. She got a nice condo and even had Farkle fooled in the office that her personal assistant would be overseeing the new branch.

Riley was going to break the news to her parents and friends that she was indeed leaving the country again. She decided to invite the group of friends along with Shawn and Katy Hunter to avoid the famous Cory Matthews freak out. She had invited Zay who was in town in preparations to move back to New York. He hadn't told anyone yet not even Lucas but he did tell Riley because who else do you tell your dreams to. So both took this as an opportunity to break the news to their family and friends at a dinner in a public place.

At 7:30pm they were all seated at a new really fancy restaurant. Farkle, Isadora, Maya, Josh, Cory, Topanga, Shawn, Katy, Darby, Yogi, Vanessa, Zay's parents, Riley and Zay are all there having an amazing dinner. Zay kept giving Riley glances the whole time hoping she would fess up. Topanga had her reservations about the reason for this dinner. She kept her suspicions to herself to spare her husband's feelings.

After much light hearted conversations over dinner, Riley and Zay finally exchange glances knowing that everyone was almost done with dinner so it was now or never. Zay decided to go first to buy Riley some time to gather her thoughts, plus his news was on a much brighter note. He clinked his glass with his fork to get everyone's attention.

"So I have a little announcement to make" all eyes shot at him "what do you guys think of this restaurant"

"For a new place the food awesome" Cory said

"Thanks Mr. Matthews I'm glad you enjoyed it I guess my skills are still pretty tight in the kitchen" everyone looked really surprised

"You made this? How is that even possible?" Farkle asked with a really confused look on his face

"Don't act all surprised genius, Yea that's right I know stuff" Farkle threw his hands in the air in surrender making everyone laugh "well this is sort of a celebratory dinner among other things" he glanced at Riley

"As of tonight at exactly 12 am to be exact it's my restaurant" Zay said with a huge smile

Vanessa's eyes were about to pop out of its socket "babe, what does that mean"

"it means as of tonight I officially live in New York again, you gonna be okay with that"

"Oh honey I'm more than okay with that, it's amazing actually" she kissed him and hugged him. There were lots of cheering and Riley could not stop her sweaty palms because she knew in a few minutes she was going to spoil this joy on everyone's face

Zay hugged both his parents "I'm so proud of you son really I am" Zay's dad said "you are doing something you love and doing so well at it. I couldn't ask for anything more out of the world" Zay's mum did a double take around the table and noticed someone was missing and said "Baby boy where is Lucas and why isn't he here for this"

"Umm I sorta haven't told him yet. It just never came up" Zay said with the look of guilt washed all over him. The truth was that he tried telling Lucas on multiple occasions since he got the idea to buy a restaurant in New York, but he never wanted to have to leave his best friend alone. Since the rucas breakup, even if Lucas would never admit it, he had converted Zay into his new Riley. Not in the romantic aspects although there were some drunk cuddling moments back in their college years on Lucas' end but he was way too hammered to remember, on some of these cuddle moments Lucas would call out Riley's name and tell her/Zay to 'stay put because she wasn't going anywhere' or he would say 'run all you want I'm coming with you' and Zay vowed to take those moments with him to his grave. Lucas would call and text him about the most random things and lean on him when his anger was getting the better of him just as he used to with Riley and Zay gladly took the role for Lucas' sake plus both boys have grown much closer since then. So telling Lucas about his move to New York has proven to be one of the hardest things he had ever had to do in his entire adult life.

Zay's mum looked seriously shocked "baby you shave the man's beard but somehow you moving back to New York never came up" everyone started snickering

"Ma!"

"Hell I'd even seen y'all cuddle before" his dad added to make his wife's point

"Dad! It was one time" he looked around the table "IT WAS ONE TIME!"

Maya winked at him "oookay Zay we totally believe you" and then she started making kissy faces at him making everyone laugh

This whole time Riley was going crazy with thoughts because this was the first personal thing she had learned about the Texas doctor in fourteen years _oh my God Luke_ , she thought, _I use to shave his beard_ , No! Riley get it together her thoughts were interrupted when say Zay spoke up

"but seriously y'all, I wanna be the one to tell him so nobody mentions this him and by nobody I mean you Darbs"

"Hey!" Darby whined folding her hands

Smackle's brain got the better of her "Zay you said 'among other things', do you have more revelations for us tonight". Riley nearly choked on her desert and started coughing. Topanga quickly put her hand on Riley's back "Honey are you okay have some water" Riley takes the water and she can just feel Zay glaring at her.

It was clear to him that Riley was trying to chicken out so he took this moment to give her a push "actually Riley told me a really good Riley story, care to share?" Zay said with raised eyebrows to Riley

"Yes a-actually Zay is right I do have something to say I don't think everyone would consider it a good riley story but either way you all have to know" she paused to take another sip of water. At this point most members of the dinner table already knew were the conversation was going.

Cory clearly in denial and with a playful chuckle he spoke up "if I didn't know any better I'd say you brought us all out to dinner to tell us you were moving again" Riley starts downing all drinks in sight. "Nooo! No? No! Riley I'm wrong right, tell me I'm wrong"

"Dad calm down we are in a public"

"Ha! Is that why you told me here? ya thought I won't make a scene cause trust me I'll make a scene. Oh a scene to the likes you have never seen" Cory spat waving his pointer finger in sass. The younger members of the table were part amazed at Cory's outburst and part sad that Riley was leaving.

"Uncle Shawn help please"

"I got ya kiddo" Shawn took Cory's hand "Cory I'm gonna need you to calm down I'm sure Riley has a really good reason for moving right Riley?"

"Yes Uncle Shawn, Daddy I need to monitor the operations in Vancouver. It's a new office with new employees I just want to ensure things take off without a hitch" Cory turned to Farkle and raised his index finger at him "You! You did this. You were supposed to make sure things like these 'little business trips' never happened". Again Farkle's hands went up in surrender making everyone laugh. "Mr. Matthews this wasn't the plan at all. Up until a few seconds ago I was under the impression that Riley's assistant Shelby would be going to Vancouver" then it clicked to him Riley would never let an assistant take on such an important role. How could he not see this.

"Riles so you've being lying to me about Shelby this whole time"

"Farkle I never meant to lie to you. I knew you would have sent someone in my place if I had told you the truth"

"hell yea I would, Riley you don't have to do this. Your friends, family" he gestured to everyone on the table "we're all here. We want you here please"

Topanga thought for a second "Riles, pumpkin you are the CFO, chief FINANCIAL officer not an operations manager, that's why the company has Mr. Parks you know the actual chief operating officer"

Riley already thought her escape plan through so she had her story straight "Mr. Parks just had a baby and I wasn't going to let him leave his family like that. You guys I'm doing this and I would really love your support"

This whole time Maya had held her tongue and tears because she honestly thought Riley would stay this time "Riley please don't do this. Please if this is about Lucas coming to into the city…" Riley cut her short

"Maya this isn't about him! I'm doing this for me can't you see that?

"No I can't. He comes into town right after you leave and then you come back just right after he's gone. it's a vicious circle"

"Maya my mind is made up on this, everything is set I leave in two days. I just need to take a break and to get away for a while"

"From what? your friends and family who love you? You need a break from us?" Maya spat

"I can't even do this with you right now" with that Riley stood up and left the restaurant. Maya got up and ran after her. "Well that escalated quickly. Dinners on me y'all" Zay said.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"Riles wait up, Riley ring power!" Riley stood still "Riley talk to me, like real talk no BS. Why are you leaving" Maya walked up behind her and took her hand "Riles?"

"I don't know what it is myself." She said with a shaky voice "I just know I need to get away for a while; I feel like I need some space to breathe" they both sat on a bench on the curb and gazed into space "three years Maya three years I was with Charlie and what did that get me, nothing. I honestly thought my life was finally moving in some kind of direction you know; I wasn't just blowing in the wind anymore. I know you don't believe me when I say it but I did love Charlie, maybe he wasn't my 'the one'" she did air quotes and smiled "but he was something and now…"

"You feel like you have nothing" Maya said slowly while looking up at her best friend with a tears threatening to escape "Riley you have us; me, Farkle, Isadora, Darbs heck even Zay's gonna be here now; we are always going to be here for you; you have something here in New York"

"I get that I really do and I love you guys so much but it's just when I come over to your homes and I see these beautiful kids running around and I think to myself 'I want this' and then another thought comes to mind and…" she starts sobbing when a particular memory of her past comes to her mind. Maya hugs her and they both cry for a few minutes before Farkle shows up and sits beside Riley.

"Hey" Riley looks up at him and rests her head on his shoulder

"why didn't I snag you up when I had the chance" they all chuckled.

"That could be arranged" Farkle said with raised brows. She smiled and kissed his cheek and then turned to kiss Maya's forehead while hugging both "I love you two so much and I'm really going to miss you"

"I see Maya couldn't talk you out of it?"

"No she couldn't, I'm sorry for lying to you about Shelby please don't be mad at her. It was all my fault"

"Don't worry about it, so how long will you be gone this time"

"I don't know, maybe till when the guys over there learn the ropes and wouldn't need me anymore so a couple months give or take"

"Well either way I know you would do amazing in Vancouver. I hate to say it but there's no one else I would have trusted to go"

Maya perked up with wide eyes "Farkle! We are trying to get her to stay. Don't put ideas in her head" Both Riley and Farkle laughed and Riley wiped her face of what tears were left "Aww Maya everything's gonna be okay I promise. I just need this time for me ok? I'll be fine"

"I know honey but what if you meet some young version of Ryan Reynolds and decide you want to stay there and become Canadian hmm? What do I do then; cause you already know I'm gonna have to drag Josh and Melvin up there because I have to be with you and I'm a New Yorker; always have been; I can't be Canadian Riley; common you guys its Canada we're talking of! You're not gonna make me move to Canada now are you" Maya whined

"Oh peaches I would never do that to either one of us. I would miss the Knicks too much" the three started laughing "if I do meet someone there he's going to have to come back with me or no dice" Riley said with squinted eyes

"promise?"

"With all my heart peaches. We are growing old together that's one thing I know for sure. Now come on" she stood up pulling both her childhood friends up "you both have adorable munchkins who won't tuck themselves to bed"

With that all three got cabs and went home.

 **A/N**

 **I feel like need I to say this obviously "I DO NOT OWN GIRL MEETS WORLD". But I hope you caught the BMW reference**

 **Oh and I've lived in Canada on my own for the past 3 years so no offense to all my Canadian readers because I do love it here, the people are amazing. But I was watching how I met your mother when writing this chapter and just got in a Barney Stinson state of mind lol**

 **So there is going to be a time jump in the next chapter to when Riley comes back fingers crossed she doesn't come home with anyone. And would she finally see our Texas vet? Who knows find out next time ;-)**

 **Thanks for reading. I'll love to hear what you think. Please follow and favorite**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **A/N**

 **The time jump happens a little later in this chapter**

Two days after the dinner, Riley left New York. Meanwhile back in Texas Lucas came back to his house exhausted from work to see Zay cooking up a feast in his kitchen.

"Well isn't this a nice way to end the day" Lucas said gawking over all the food

"Well hello to you too"

"Ah ribs" Lucas was fixing to pick one when Zay slapped his hand away

"Hands to yourself till I'm done oh and my trip to New York was fine by the way" he turns back to his matched potatoes "so impolite"

"sorry buddy how was New York?" Lucas hops on the kitchen island

"Good" that's when Lucas finally cleared his heard of work and looked around him. Zay never cooks for him voluntarily and this wasn't just regular dinner it was a freaking thanksgiving feast

"Uh-oh good? Just good? Zay how was New York or more specifically what did you do in New York"

"Nothing have some casserole man, you look tired you should take a shower and then come back and have some turkey" Lucas opened the oven and saw the huge turkey cooking "You made me turkey? Zay seriously what's going on"

"I was hoping to get some comfort food in you first but I guess that plan's out the window now" Zay put the casserole down. "I have some news and before I say what it is I want you to know that I'm always going to be there for you buddy; whenever you need me" He exhaled "I bought a restaurant'

"Zay that's awesome congratulations" Lucas gave his friend a bro hug "so what's the problem"

"The restaurant is in New York man. I'm moving back home to be with V" Lucas was taken aback by this, but Zay has been there by him for way too long so now it was his turn to do the same

"Man that's great for you and V. So you got the ring already?"

"one step ahead of you on that one" Zay explained while showing Lucas the engagement ring for Vanessa

"Is that your grandma's ring"

"Yea, I'm gonna miss you buddy"

"same here, I still can't imagine you leaving Texas for good"

"it was bound to happen at some point" both boys started digging into the ribs "I mean I will always love Austin. I've spent a lot of my life here but as ma always says home is where the heart is; mine just isn't here and I hate to break it to you buddy but neither is yours, not anymore" Zay was hoping and praying that Lucas will catch on to what he was insinuating.

"What are you talking about"

 _well I guess everyone is in denial this season_ Zay thought

"Really? do I have to spell it out for you" Zay said with raised brows

"I mean I guess Austin isn't like it used to be since we both went to New York, but it's home for me now; The ranch is here"

"Yea right ranch man. Okay just answer me this, apart from me or the little family you still have here who else in Texas do you talk to; like really talk to, and not about work now, I mean the personal stuff?" Lucas thought for a minute

"I guess you're right on some level. With the whole gang in New York, I guess I never really met new people because you were here"

"wow dude blame the best friend" Zay feigned taking offense

"Oh you know it's true, but dude you know I'm going to be in New York in couple days anyway. I told you that"

"Oh yea, your new clinic how's that going"

"Everything is set and ready. I have great partners over there. I just need to get professional cleaners for the floors before opening day"

"When's that" Zay asked with barbeque sauce smudged on his face

"Next Monday and here" Lucas passed him a napkin "wipe your face"

"You know when I said home is where that heart, I wasn't just talking about the gang right"

"Zay stop!" Lucas warned

"Be mad at me all you want but you know I'm right. I don't even need to mention her name Lucas; It's been 14 years and all I have to do is say an expression and your mind goes straight to her…"

Lucas spaces out and recalls past memories; _Riley and Lucas are in an empty classroom back at Abigail Adams high school_

 _'How am I in the wrong here. You are the one who keeps icing me out, keeping huge secrets from me, even right now you won't look me in the eye' Lucas said highly frustrated_

 _'If you can't see that I kept this from you to protect you from getting hurt then I don't know what you want me to say here"_

 _'Damn it Riley! What the fuck!" He ran his hands through his dirty blonde hair "Say something that makes sense to me, because lately it's like I'm fighting with a brick wall. You punch and punch and it never hits back"_

 _'Ok so I'm just going to leave you and your brick wall' Riley tapped on the walls of the classroom 'to finish your conversation because I'm tapping out of this' She starts walking out of the classroom_

 _'Wow Riles you're just going to walk away real mature of you'_

Zay snaps his hand in front of Lucas' face "Hello? Earth to Lucas"

"hmm sorry"

"I bet you she was the center of whatever you were thinking of"

"You don't know what you're talking about" Zay rolled his eyes at this. The doctor got up and picked his suit case up to go shower "Look man I'm gonna go freshen up, would you please make a plate for me"

"Sure whatever you want. You know you can run but you can't hide away forever. Riley might not be there right now but she will come back and so should you plus you love it in the city"

"Whatever Zay" Lucas shouted from down the hall.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **A year and a half later**

Maya, Josh and Melvin are at JFK waiting for Riley at her arrival gate. Maya was way too excited she started bouncing on her spot waiting for her best friend. Melvin even had a cute sign that read 'welcome back aunt Riles'. Her plane just landed so they were just waiting for her to get through customs. Riley came out and immediately ran to where she spotted the blond artist.

"Peaches!" Maya jumped into her arms like her she use to do when they were kids "Peaches I missed you so much" Riley said

"I missed you too honey" that's when Riley noticed her little nephew and his sign

"oh hey there Mel, you are growing up too fast on me now" she picked him up, pecked his cheek and spun him around, the little boy giggled and it melted Riley's heart "Aunt Riles I missed you". Melvin kissed Riley's cheek

"I missed you too Mel" she put the little boy down and hugged her older brother.

"Welcome home sis, how was Canada"

"Surprisingly not as cold as I imagined" All four began strolling out of the airport heading to Josh's jeep.

"Yea I could have guessed Vancouver wouldn't be as bad as New York weather wise" they all got into the car and Josh started driving back to their parent's house

"ah I miss the city, and the bagels just wish I wasn't homeless though"

"Whose fault is that, I showed you five different places and you rejected them all" Josh said

"Josh be nice" Maya playfully smacked him

"Yes Josh be nice to me, plus I didn't get a good vibe from the places you showed me, they just didn't have the homey feeling I want"

"That's because you were looking at them through a computer screen" Josh countered

"Same difference"

"Honey sorry you had to lose your pent house, at least your parents are happy to take you in" Maya said while Riley rolled her eyes

"oh don't remind me"

"Riles! you know mum and dad miss you. You have no idea how excited they were when they found out you would be living with them again" Josh said

"I love them don't get me wrong, but I don't think dad's ever going to let me move out again. You remember when I was to leave with Sarah after graduation"

"can you blame him, you were literally going on exile I still don't know why and how I let you go" Maya said

"Maya it happened years ago you're gonna have to let it go sometime"

A thought hit Josh and his eyes widen "That reminds me Maya, as you can see Riley came back alone so pay up"

"what!" Riley scream "you guys bet on my love life, are you shi-" the brunette stopped herself because there was a four-yea-old sitting next to her

"Thank God she has filters and technically I didn't lose; the bet said I lose if Riley comes back single I hate to break it to you sweetie but she ain't single" the blonde explained

"No I'm her brother I would have known about that" Josh said to Maya

"is this happening right now" Riley said to herself because to her it was clear Maya and Josh had lost it

"Sorry sweetie you lost the bet about seven months ago. Nathan landed New York yesterday so actually you owe me a twenty so pay up"

"that's still going on, I thought they would have ending things by now" Josh peeped at his sister through the rear view mirror while Riley had her arms folded arms looking out the window

"yea apparently it's still on, and even better he's a fellow New Yorker so lover boy decided to move home with our girl"

"Riles is this true?" Josh asked

"Oh me? You mean I actually exist in this conversation go figure"

"Someone's in a mood, common riles, Josh and I were just having a little a fun" Maya said with puppy dog eyes to Riley

"did you guys really bet on this" Maya's hands went up "hey I bet on your relationship staying together"

"Joshua!" Riley punched his shoulder

"ow! sorry Riles, I wanted the twenty" the brown eyed boy said rubbing his shoulder

"Peaches would you come house hunting with me next week, I think I'm just going to buy a place this time"

"Riley are you sure you want a house. I mean it's going to be just you in a big house" the blonde said with panic in her voice

"I didn't mean a house kinda house I meant something like the pent house I lost"

"Oh sure honey" Maya had a mysterious smile on her face because she and the genius Farkle had a full proof plan to ensure Riley never left the country again and the blonde had all her fingers and toes crossed that this would work.

 **A/N**

 **So Riley's back YAY! And she didn't come back alone. I initially wanted her to run into Lucas in this chapter but then a different idea came up in my head and I ran with it.**

 **I do know where I want the story to go but before I get there I'm writing totally based on inspiration. This chapter is a set up for the next big events that would happen. Trust me it's going to be worth the wait**

 **Thanks for reading please follow and favorite and I'll love to hear what you think**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 _Riley stood from afar watching her younger self and Lucas have a conversation in central park at night_

 _'Riles, I think we need a break from each other' Lucas said, Riley felt her heart speed up, it felt like someone had knocked the air out of her. How had they gotten to this. Yes, they had issues but she figured they would work it out. She only wanted to spare his feelings that's why she never mentioned any of what happened to him. But now he wants a break; how is this even happening_

 _'Riley I love you' Lucas took her hand 'more than anything else in the world, it scares me sometimes how much I feel about you but lately it's like all we do is fight and I don't want to anymore because I feel like if we continue down this road I'm gonna lose you and I just can't let that happen. So if it takes us being apart and figuring things out; what we mean to each other and what not then that's what needs to happen but don't for one second think we're done Riley because we're not'_

 _Riley took shaky breaths and after what felt like a life time of silence, she finally centered herself to reply 'fine' and then she got up to leave but Lucas caught up with her_

 _'Riley don't do that, please I need you to be on the same page with me on this or we are not going to make it out' Lucas was pleading with everything he had to make sure she understood what he trying to do_

 _'and I understand which is why I said fine' she tried so hard to be strong but her shaky voice and hurting heart were betraying her on that mission so she figured she could just walk away so he wouldn't see her cry_

 _'I know you and you're not fine Riles please'_

 _'please what? Oh and would you be dating Missy while we are on this break' her hurting emotion was slowly turning into anger_

 _'What! Riles what are you talking about? What has she got to do with any of this'_

 _'oh I don't know you are going off to Texas A &M and suddenly she has interest in going to the same school. I've seen you guys this past few months getting all close and what not' Riley mimicking him 'oh and let's not forget her stunning confession of love to you were she wants to and I quote hump your brains out'_

 _'Riles I can't control what comes out of Missy's mouth and if you had cared to listen to the rest of that conversation you would have heard me say that I loved you and nothing was ever going to happen between Missy and I'_

 _I'm not naïve anymore Luke, you want a break fine you'll get your break but I won't be here when you want to get back together' there was a double meaning to what she just said that Lucas had no idea of_

 _'Riley-'_

 _'No! Luke I'm going to go home now because it's late and we have graduation tomorrow I'd like to be awake for it' she turns and starts walking away, meanwhile older Riley watching begins to scream at her younger self 'No Riley go back to him, running away doesn't solve anything go back to him! GO BACK NOW!_

Riley flew out of bed with beads of sweat trailing down her face. Her breathing was out of control so she grabbed her inhaler from her side drawer and took puffs into her mouth and took a few minutes to calm herself down. she was so confused with the dream she just had. That happened so long ago and she was with someone else now. But what worried her the most was that she hasn't dreamt of him since she met Nathan, she was really happy with him and thoughts of her ex had eluded her for months so why, why now, she was finally happy, really happy and with someone who loved and adored her, she had moved on from him hadn't she? She turned to look at the time on her phone to see it was 4:22 am. She decided to call her boyfriend

Hey

 _Hey pretty lady, you're up early_

So are you, I got up like a few minutes ago, just wanted to hear your voice

 _Aww Riley I feel honoured_ Riley giggled _but I hope you are okay though_

Yea I'm fine

 _Uh-oh I know you and you're not fine_ Riley froze and spaced out for a bit, her mind replayed that line from her dream

 _Hello riles, you still there?_

Yea just spaced out a bit

 _What's going on_

I don't know maybe I'm just a little stressed out, you know finding a new place and work

 _I don't like my baby getting stressed, I told you to take a break when we get back, my offer to the Bahamas still stands you know_

And I may just take you up on that offer but I can't take off again just yet, Farkle needs me right now, his new tech is about to be released and we have all these buyers who want it exclusively, I have to make all these financial projections for him you know

 _Babe it's ok to take a break now and then but since I can't whisk you away like I would have loved to I'm going to settle for taking you to lunch_

Ah sorry babe I have to go check out this place with Maya during my lunch break, Farkle recommended it so it must be nice. Dinner?

 _Even better. Pick you up at 7?_

Yea, just no pda in front of my dad, the last time you almost gave him a heart attack

Nathan laughed _oh how I love your dad he's adorable, I'll let you go so you could get some sleep before you have to get for work_

Ok I love you sweetie

 _I love you too babe_

Riley put down her phone and laid back on her bed with her thoughts. It had been a few weeks since she got back home and she was very well aware that the vet was in the city too. She wondered why he didn't leave since she was coming back home, it just always happened that way, on some level she thought he was avoiding her too so she had assumed he would go back to Texas with her return. _Well guess he really didn't care if she was there or not_ she thought to herself.

Yes, she was happier now that she had spoken to Nathan but the call did nothing to clear her mind off of her dream or her ex. She was even more confused now because she never thought she would be the girl in a relationship with a guy while pining over another. Was she in love with two guys, how could that even be possible when she hasn't even seen one of them in almost sixteen years. She ran her hand through her short brown hair in frustration because she knew at this point she wasn't going to fall into any kind of sleep tonight so she decided to read through the contracts she had brought come the previous day.

GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW

At lunch time that afternoon Maya picked up Riley from work to go look at the pent house Farkle suggested. Both girls walked arm in arm into a high rise building in the heart of the upper east side. The lobby looked like a modern day palace with a huge chandelier hanging in the middle, there were beautiful work of arts all over the walls, it even had a glass wall with an artificial waterfall behind it highlighted with spot lights. Riley was amazed at how beautiful the place looked

"Wow Maya, this place is gorgeous"

"I know right, look at that light sculpture" Maya couldn't tear her eyes off of the art works around her. She had been here on several occasions but she could never get over how beautiful the place looked. A middle aged blond woman in pant suit walked up to them.

"Hello I'm Beth, I'm guessing you are Ms Matthews we spoke on the phone"

"Yes I am" Riley said and shook the woman's hand "and this is my sister-in-law Maya Matthews"

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Matthews" Maya shook hands with Beth and giggled to herself then Riley lightly elbowed her, no matter how long she and Josh had been married she would always giggle whenever someone referred to her as 'Mrs. Matthews'

Beth looked a little confused at this but shrugged it off "I'll be showing you to what hopefully will be your new home" Beth said with a smile on her face. She took both girls to the elevators and pressed the button taking them to the twentieth floor which made Riley even more happy about this because she always liked being as high as possible to avoid the loud city and of course the amazing view. The elevator door opened to yet another beautiful hall way, Beth led the girls to the three-bedroom pent house and Riley fell in love with every detail of the place. It had gorgeous furniture, the bedrooms had balconies, the living room had floor to ceiling glass walls overlooking the city. Riley couldn't take her eyes away from how beautiful the kitchen looked, there were wonderful lighting all over the place to highlight all the fancy features.

Maya ran out of the bedroom to find Riley "Riley! Bay window in the master bedroom" Riley's squealed and ran up the stairs right behind her best friend like they were still kids, Beth looked at them very confused at all their antics but she followed them to the room. Both girls ran in and went straight to the bay window to sit just to get a feeling of the place.

"Riles you have to get this place cause if you don't I will" Maya said

Riley inhaled and exhaled "I love it too, Farkle has great taste" she got up to look around the room "Maya check out the walk-in closet space it's huge" Maya walked up behind her "thank God, we finally found a place to accommodate your shopping habits which we need to talk about by the way"

"Hah look who's talking miss extra room for wardrobe, you're lucky Josh loves you" Riley said while Maya grinned

"Oh Ms Matthews I'm supposed to tell you this, the place is for sale"

"yea I requested that and I'll take it, the house is lovely"

"Okay then let us get the paper work started" Maya had this mysterious smile on her face and Riley noticed

"Peaches what's going on in that mind of yours"

"Oh nothing just planning your house warming party" Maya lied through her teeth

"Okay just don't go overboard I don't want my new neighbours getting upset"

Maya whispered "trust me they won't"

"What was that?" Riley asked

"oh nothing just thinking out loud I'll be right down give me a minute I need to call Josh"

"ok don't be long I'm starving"

As soon as Riley left the room Maya texted Farkle on progress report of their plan

Text messages on Maya's phone:

 **Maya**

Phase 1 complete

A minute later her phone dinged

 **Squeaky the mouse**

Phase 2 is bound to happen any day now.

 **Maya**

Fingers crossed

 **Squeaky the mouse**

Maya don't worry this is full proof I assure you

Maya looked around the room one last time and said to herself "You're going to thank me for this Riles I promise, I can't let you leave again" before leaving to join Riley and Beth down stairs.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Riley picked up the last little box from the moving truck and walked back into her new pent house building. She walked into the lobby towards the elevators to see the doors were closing she picked up her speed and screamed

"HOLD THE ELEVATOR PLEASE" classic Riley she ran and tripped into the elevator she was expecting her body to land sideways but instead she felt strong hands catch her from behind and immediately she felt this tingle run through her body and the feeling was just too familiar to her.

Riley finally got her balance and turned around to thank this person "thank y-" she froze and the colour visibly drained from her face as she came face to face with those emerald eyes that had hunted her dreams for the past two weeks and most of her adult life. She immediately felt her chest tighten and her breaths shorten as her panic kicked in because she realized she wasn't breathing properly anymore

"Riley?" His eyes widen in panic "Oh my gosh Riles where is your inhaler"

 **A/N**

 **Uh-oh I hope she's okay but on a brighter they finally meet eek! So what happens next for our Riley find out next time**

 **Thanks for reading please follow, favorite and I'll also love to hear what you think**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Are you sure you guys didn't take this too far, she bought the freaking pent house and it didn't come cheap" Josh said with utmost concern for his baby sister. Him and his wife were hosting movie night for their friends while their son was spending time with his grandparents Cory and Topanga. Darby, Yogi, Farkle, Isadora, Zay and Vanessa were present at Josh and Maya's house.

"I get your concern Josh I really do" Farkle said "I mean the plan at first was for her to rent but she buying the place only makes it so much better because now it wouldn't be easy for her to just move somewhere else, they need this push trust me it's been fifteen plus years, there has to be a reason the both of them haven't found their other halves"

Josh understood were the genius was coming from but that doesn't mean he still wasn't concerned for his sister. She tends to react to certain situations in the worst ways behaviour and health wise. This little plan of theirs, even though it came from a place of love definitely fell into the category of situations that his sister never handled properly. He just wished their group would leave her to figure this out on her own.

"My concern with this plan is what if it doesn't work and it blows up in our faces, what if Lucas gets mad, I mean we're older now but he still scares me" Yogi muttered

"Oh common honey, the man knows better now he won't even hurt a fly" Darby tried to comfort her husband and put his mind at ease.

"Yea tell that to the hole he made on the wall of his office when he found out about Nathan" Zay just dropped a bomb on the group without even realizing what he had done.

"for the life of me I still can't understand why they went so long apart when it's so clear they still love each other, she loves him, he loves her so why drag the drama on for so long gees happiness is not that hard" Vanessa exclaimed while Zay smiled and threw his arms around her.

Obviously Riles is going to be pissed at first because she knows we go to his place all the time and then out of nowhere Farkle suddenly suggests the house right next door from him" Darby said while sipping her wine

Maya was more worried about her best friend's reaction to this whole plan fiasco "I'm still a little scared, I've known the girl my whole life, when she gets pissed she could take drastic actions, what if she decides to sell the home and move"

"She wouldn't do that Maya it would be too obvious she is moving because of him, she already admitted to all of us she loves that place. She's still bubbles after all; she would never want to hurt him like that. Even if they haven't seen each other" Isadora explained. Then everyone turns to Zay as he is tearing through a turkey leg

"what are y'all staring at me for, I agree with the Mr. & Mrs. Genius here" he huffs seeing some of the members of group still in doubt, then he moves to drops the turkey leg down on his plate "common guys its Lucas and Riley we're talking of here, we've seen this play out before it's not rocket science people. What those two have I can't even begin to explain it, just being in close proximity and they can't stop talking to each other. It's a little freaky if you asked me" Zay said earning him a smack in the head from his new fiancé

"and that's how they bond with each other" Farkle added and it was as if a light bulb went off in this head "You guys that's what happened, that's why they refused to see themselves"

Maya caught on "because they knew one of them was going to cave in and then they would start speaking again, that's why Lucas leaves when Riley comes home but why didn't he leave this time"

"Duh because he wants his girl back, Jesus, what part of Lucas loves this woman don't you people understand" Zay said in frustration leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Josh was particularly shocked with these new bombshells Zay has been dropping all night, because to be honest he never thought the alleged plan would work, he always figured if they were ever going to get back together it wouldn't be because of people meddling, it would be Riley and Lucas figuring things out themselves. Josh knew parts of the story that no one present knew, so he was particularly thrilled to hear Lucas wanted Riley back for the sake of his sister's happiness. Then he turned his attention to Zay "did he tell you this? Like with actual words? What happens to Nathan then?"

"When last did Lucas stay in New York for a whole year plus" Zay asked with raised eye brows "he has more than enough doctors to take care of his clinic here, he could have gone back to Texas if he wanted to. Riley has been back for what over a month now and he still shows no sign of going anywhere. He doesn't need to tell me he wants the girl back; his actions show it"

"and Josh, who cares what happens to Nathan" Darby spat "I mean he's a good guy and all but we all know that relationship doesn't hold a candle to Rucas" Maya smiled at this remembering when they use to tease the couple with the ship name back in high school.

"That's true I haven't even considered the Nathan factor in this equation" Farkle said

"Bubbles wouldn't want to hurt Nathan either hmm" Isadora thought for a minute and looked to her husband "Dearest it would appear we skipped out on that variable, so what do we do now, Nathan is a threat to our desired outcome but there are ways to eliminate him from said equation though" Smackle smirked

"SMACKLE!" everyone yelled

Zay looked at both of them as if they were crazy "hey! Mr. & Mrs. Genius, Lucas and Riley aren't equations from a textbook, like I said this isn't rocket science, we have succeeded in getting them to see each other again that's good so now just sit back and watch the magic happen"

"In a weird way I agree with Zay on this. I don't think there's any magic to it but they definitely have some kind of pull to each other" Josh said

All through their conversations, Maya was still confused in thoughts with all of this because she never understood why, why were things happening this way for those two. Lucas had once said Riley was his favorite person in the world to talk to, and that was one of the most honest things Maya had ever heard him say. One look into his eyes you could tell he meant every word of it and he proved it all through their high school years. The two would constantly sneak off to God knows where just to be alone with each other. Once Riley told her they drove out of the city at night just for the sake of the adventure of it and of course more of an excuse for them to be together.

So why would they be so willing to go so long without wanting to see each other, Riley didn't cheat Maya was sure of that, Lord knows Missy as hot and sexy as she looked tried to get Lucas but he wouldn't budge, it wasn't their spark; those two made fireworks just by linking pinkies, they didn't stop loving each other, nope very far from that, then it hit Maya like a ton of bricks. Their first real fight started after Riley got sick once at the beginning of senior year, she kept to herself for a while after falling sick. Riley had told Maya that her asthma was acting up so she had to stay away from school for a while, Maya knew it wasn't the whole truth but she decided to not push it because she figured Riley would come to her when she was ready to talk but Riley never did and she shrugged it off because Riley got better but her friend's relationship never did. So she decided to test her theory

"Sweetie remember when Riles got sick at the beginning of senior year" everyone turned their attention to Maya wondering what that had to do with anything "do you remember what happened to her" Maya asked Josh

Josh was alarmed by this question because this was not his secret to tell and he knew the hell his mother would raise on him if he spilled anything to anybody so he panicked and said the first thing that came to his head "Oh um yea I remember, she had this flu that wouldn't go away"

 _Lies! Why would Josh lie to me_ Maya thought to herself _she said it was her asthma, so something did happen to Riley. Oh God something happened to Riley!_ Maya began to internally panic _How could I not see this? She didn't tell Lucas and it must have been huge since it caused them to split up and Josh is lying to me over it._ Maya got up from the table with haste to leave "I have to go see her"

Josh followed behind her outside of their home to get away from the rest "Babe it's late we have guests, Riley's fine trust me the flu has definitely passed"

"Sweetie please I have to go see her right now, something's not adding up"

"I assure you she's fine Maya; you can ask her about it tomorrow" Josh pleaded, he could sense Maya knew he lied

"If I don't go it's going to bug me and then I'm going to have to bug you all night" Maya was determined to get answers, something happened to her sister and her husband was trying to keep her away from finding out. This only made the wheels in her head spin faster

"Maya she is probably exhausted from moving today, she and Nathan are probably having some alone time for themselves and they wouldn't appreciate you busting in asking for answers to something that happened years ago plus I already told you what happened"

"You told me something alright but you and I know that's not what happened, I know you're covering for her or you feel like it's not your position to tell so I'll respect that tonight for the sake of the people in our house but tomorrow you bet your ass I'm getting my answers" Josh shoulders visibly relaxed themselves as he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was more than relieved that his wife was dropping the issue for this night because now he would be able to give his sister the heads up that her spit fire best friend knew something was up.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"Riley?" His eyes widen in panic "Oh my gosh Riles where is your inhaler" He rushed to her side again and put his strong muscular arms around her. Lucas didn't need to be told what was happening to her, he had been there with her when she badly struggled with it in high school.

She slid to sit on the floor of the elevator to create some kind of distance from him. His heart broke a little seeing her like this. Seeing that the doors to the elevator already closed shot and they had started moving, her heart beats sped up. Her breaths were only getting shorter so she pointed to the small cardboard box she dropped while she tripped. He didn't even think twice about it, he ripped the top off and saw a bunch of inhalers still in their packaging. He quickly tore one open, shook it and put it in her mouth so she could take the puffs. She sat calmly to relax for a few seconds before the doors opened to their floor.

Lucas squatted beside her "are you okay, Riley please talk to me, do I need to take you to the hospital" she shook her head slowly still staring at his emerald orbs that had tiny flecks of gold around them. She felt like she was in high school all over again, seeing Lucas take care of her when she use to have attacks back then. She kept staring at him as if she was looking at a ghost, her mind was running a million miles per second and her pounding heart did not help her current daze. She tried to get up but Lucas held on to her from the side to support her, she was shocked by his actions and furrowed her eyes at him but that didn't stop all the butterflies that were on a rampage in her stomach.

"Luke I'm going to be fine I'll just go home and lay down for a bit" she picked up the box to live. While Lucas was still stunned at what just happened, she called him Luke that's something he hadn't heard in years; he saw her and not in his dreams or imaginations and he physically touched her; he spoke to her; she still looked as amazing he remembered, her pictures never did her justice he always knew that but this was just mind blowing for him; she had grown so much more than his brain could currently comprehend and he didn't miss her blown out curves and long legs that did things to his insides. He paused for a minute to collect his thoughts on his way back to his house, did he just see her walk into the house right next to his, she said she was going to go 'home' where was her home, was Riley his new neighbour. He went into his place to go process what just happened.

Meanwhile on Riley's end she couldn't reach her home fast enough. She entered and slammed the door behind her then rested her back on it to take small breaths _what is he doing here, how did he find me, why is this happening now, I'm happy with Nathan right? I love him right?_

"Riley?" Nathan called from on top of the stairs "where do you need these to go" he said holding up two lamps

"Natan!" Riley called and ran up to him before he could say anything she wrapped her hand around his neck and kissed him. The kiss wasn't just for endearment sake, it was more of desperation, she deepened the kiss sliding her tongue into his mouth while he graciously accepted it, she held on to him so tightly for dear life and ran her hands through his brown hair. She pulled away looking into his eyes as if searching for something she was so sure for the past seven months she finally had.

"whoa, babe what was that for, I mean not that I'll ever complain but wow."

She huffed while her hands were still around his neck and forced a smile "I just wanted to say thanks, you know for helping me move, and being here with me"

"well if this is the treatment I get for helping you move, you just call me whenever you need a mover, you can call me mover man" he said with his hands on his waist pretending to be a superhero which made Riley giggle.

They got most of the boxes unpacked that day and after a light dinner of pizza and wine, both were too tired to do anything else. So they decided to call it a night. Nathan passed out immediately his head touched the pillows. Riley laid next to him but couldn't bring herself to sleep. Her mind was still on the events of the elevator; her brain had managed to memorize every detail of him. He looked so much better than he what he looked like the last time she saw him; he was much taller, her head barley reached his shoulders; and his arms only got bigger from his muscles. Her hands moved to the spot on her arms that he held, she remembered the moment he held her so vividly it was like she could still feel his arms around her. She turned on the bed to her sleeping boyfriend and felt guilt run through her, this man sleeping right next to her; a man who loved and adored her and has constantly showed her how much he cares about her, but here she was practically drooling over someone she hasn't seen or spoken to since she graduated 12th grade. She tossed when she heard her phone vibrate from the night stand

Text messages

 **Josh**

 _Hey baby sis, how did the move go, I'll stop by tomorrow to check on you. Love you_

 _p.s Maya has a hunch about your senior year if you know what I mean. I was able to hold her off for today but she's coming to get answers from you tomorrow so yea heads up on that._

 **A/N**

 **So they finally meet. When I wrote this Nathan character I pictured the actor who played Mattie McKibben from awkward his name is Beau Mirchoff. So you could check it out if you want to.**

 **Thanks for reading, please follow, favorite and please leave a review I would love to hear what you guys think**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Text messages

 **Josh**

 _Hey baby sis, how did the move go, I'll stop by tomorrow to check on you. Love you p.s Maya has a hunch that something happened to you back in your senior year if you know what I mean. I was able to hold her off for today prepare for the storm tomorrow she's coming to get answers from you so yea heads up on that._

 **My Peaches**

• _Riles?_

 _• WHY AREN'T YOU PICKING YOUR PHONE?_

 _• RILEY GRACE MATTHEWS PICK UP YOUR PHONE NOW! VIRTUAL RING POWER_

 _• Young lady we need to talk!_

 _• Like 911 times infinity MAD FACE EMOJI_

 _• Oh I get it Josh gave you the heads up right? I'm gonna get him later EVIL FACE EMOJI_

 _• Ok I'll let you sleep tonight but you can bet your sweet ass I'm showing up over there first thing tomorrow morning_

 _• I know boy toy is spending the night but he better bounce before I get there or I'm kicking ass_

Riley froze after reading the texts, her phone slipped out of her hand to the floor as the memories from the worst moments of her life started to flood her mind

15 plus years ago…

It was a cold winter Sunday night in the Matthews apartment, Topanga entered her daughter's room to see her coiled up in a sitting position, knees to chest while the tears flowed freely from her eyes. She moved to sit beside her last child and wrapped her hand around her in a huge mummy hug. "Honey you have to stop doing this to yourself"

"I know I'll be fine I just need some time"

"baby girl I'm so sorry this happened to you, I can't begin to understand what you are going through, this is clearly bothering you more than you want to admit. I don't how to help you with this if you won't talk to me about how you're feeling"

"I don't want to talk mom please"

Topanga exhaled in exhaustion, she wanted more than anything for Riley to open up about the pain she was going through, she had been trying for months to coerce her daughter to no avail "one thing I can assure you is that your father, brother and I are going to be here for you and if you need to speak to someone please let me know, we will arrange something"

Riley sniffled back some more tears and looked up at her mother "thanks mom, I really appreciate that but I don't want to see a therapist I'll be fine"

"are you sure, Riley it's been almost six months and you don't seem to be doing any better" Topanga said with so much distress in her heart, seeing her daughter go through something that she couldn't relate to or understand broke her heart even more. She was her mother how was she supposed to help or protect her from this. "Yes mom I'm sure, me talking about it makes me feel even worse. It's only going to remind me that I wasn't strong enough" she sobbed and exhaled "woman enough to carry my own child" saying this she burst into another round of sobbing while Topanga held on to her even tighter while trying to hold back her own tears, she had to be the strong one in the room.

"Honey don't say that, you are so strong, stronger than you give yourself credit for, look at me" Topanga used her pointer finger to lift Riley's chin "this wasn't your fault, the doctor said so as well, it was one of risks of being pregnant so young, baby you are one of the strongest people I know and I'm not just saying it because I'm your mom. I've watched you grow up Riley, you will get through this and you have me by your side"

"Thanks mommy" Topanga was quiet for a while because she knew what she was about to say next, her daughter would shut it down immediately, yet she felt like it needed to be said "honey don't you think it's time you told him-" Riley interrupted her before she could continue "NO! mom just no, I can't put this on him"

"honey at this point I don't think that's your call to make anymore, sooner or later you just have to tell him, he deserves to know"

"I can't mom, I just can't" telling Lucas petrified her. She loved the boy turned man with everything inside of her, she couldn't help but harbour the idea that she let him down. More than anything, she was scared of his reaction to the news, he had come such a long way with dealing with his anger issues and brief interest in alcohol last year thank God for her uncle Shawn who talked some sense into him but this, telling him this was something she couldn't even imagine herself doing. She would be damned if she let him change back to the person once was. Plus, for the past couple months she distanced herself from her group of friends because since Missy and Lucas' family went on vacation together last summer when she first found out about the baby, she sensed that she was slowly drifting back into a messed up triangle and somewhere in her head she couldn't stop the feeling that made her think that Lucas might actually like the Missy girl. She didn't want to be the 'whinny Riley' and she for sure did not want Lucas to pick her because she almost had his baby. Hence her reasons for keeping it away from him.

"Riley I'm sorry I just don't understand your reasons on this, the baby was half his and he deserves to know he had a kid"

"don't you think I know that" Riley said with a shaky voice while she sobbed and talked simultaneously "look at me, I've been a mess since it happened I can't put this kind of pain on him, how does telling him help anyone?" she figured she could leave her out insecurity reasons out of her explanation, at least for now.

"He could relate to your hurt and then the both of you could help each other get through it, I know you won't believe when I say this but telling your friends isn't a bad idea, you know they will be there for you". Topanga looked down at Riley staring off into space and instantly knew her child had checked out of the conversation, she sighed and continued her little speech "well you know I'll respect your decision to keep this from everyone and I trust you'll tell them when you are ready"

"Thanks mom"

"your welcome honey" Topanga hugged her tightly one last time and whispered "I love you"

"I love you too" with that Topanga sauntered back to her bedroom. Riley kicked her feet out as she changed into a lying position on her bed. She reached for her phone in the back pocket of the jeans she was wearing. She flew out of her bed with wide eyes after seeing who she just pocket dialed for that last thirty minutes. Her beat sped up and she instantly became restless, she began pacing her room back and forth as thoughts filled her head ' _what do I do now? did he hear any of this and if he did then how much did he hear? oh who am I kidding it's freaking Lucas Friar of course he heard everything. Oh God please help me handle this he's going to be here-_ ' her thoughts were interrupted when her bay window flew open and the man of her thoughts climbed into her room

"Lucas I can explain-"

"Why would you not tell me about this" from the look in his face it was more than obvious he had been crying and there were residue of the tears underneath his orbs, his once beautiful bright emerald eyes had been replaced with dull red ones that held so much emotions that at this point were really hard to read

"I was going to tell you eventually"

"No you weren't, you were never gonna tell me and over pocket dial really Riles, I find out we h-had," his voice begins to shake "w-we had a kid" he sniffled back the tears that threaten to the escape "AND I FIND OUT THROUGH A FUCKING POCKET DIAL"

At sight of her boyfriend showing all these emotions Riley started her own fit of tears that she could never hold back even if she tried "Luke obviously I never meant for you to find out like that, I hadn't mentioned it to you because I wanted to keep you from getting hurt" she paused "I didn't want you to change back to-"

"are you kidding me right now?" Lucas said while running his hand through his hair, clearly in frustration "for the love of God Riles, something like this happens and that's your major concern, that I'll turn back into Texas Lucas? It's been four years Riley don't you trust me?"

It's somewhat important to note that at this point both _teenagers_ were filled with so much overwhelming emotions and as much as they tried neither one of them could see or think clearly. Riley snapped and got frustrated with how the conversation had taking a toll at making her look like the bad guy when in actuality she was protecting their relationship. And now we have reached the type of situations that Riley never handled properly because her insecurities have come out to play.

She inhaled deeply and decided that since he found out about the baby she might as well lay all her underlying feelings out on the table. He might as well know everything going on with her "How am I supposed to trust you when you let Missy flock around you every chance she gets" she spoke slowly in a very low tone

"Missy and I are just friends, she's been a friend to me since my girlfriend refuses to even look me in the eye let alone talk to me and wait hold up what does she have to with you not telling me we had a kid" With all the emotions swirling around Riley's insecurities had definitely come out to play and at this point Lucas was more than oblivious to it.

"I don't know you tell me, how I was supposed to talk to my boyfriend when every two seconds she's texting you, asking you to come over, making plans with you hell you freaking went on vacation with the girl Luke"

"I told you already that it was a family thing and I couldn't get out of it. How is any of that important right now"

"the fact that you don't see how that was an important factor in me not telling you only affirms my decision to keep it from you"

Lucas stared at her for minute with squinted eyes; his heart physically hurt because he wanted to be mad at Riley but as much as he wanted to tell himself that he was mad the one emotion that dominated him was hurt, Riley hurt him; she knew it but she wouldn't even admit it or apologize for it. His brain was going into overdrive, he was trying his best to decipher this Riley because the girl standing right in front of him had clearly lost her mind, how was he in the wrong here? She kept this huge secret from him but yet he was supposed to apologize because allegedly he is friends with another girl; he kept looking at her like she was a stranger; that this was not the girl he fell in love with; this was not the girl he constantly fought with his mom over; this wasn't his Riley and he had no idea how to reach her "so you just decided that I didn't deserve the right to know" he said in a very low almost calm tone.

"don't twist my words"

"You know what Riley; I don't even know why I came here tonight" he shook his head as he stepped back from her. Riley didn't even have the heart to move close to him because she could see so much hurt in his eyes. The one thing she was trying to prevent all along had happened and in the worst way possible and she had no idea how to salvage their current situation.

He kept retreating back to the window "I can't be around you right now" he said and climbed out the window and immediately her legs gave way and she fell to the floor crying her eyes out. Josh who had been listening due to the yelling ran into Riley's room and then he kneeled by her side and enveloped her in a hug rocking her a little bit.

"everything is going to be okay baby sis, just give him time, he'll come around" Josh said

 **~End Flash Back~**

"Babe, Babe, RILEY!" Nathan shook her gently to get her out of her daze and it worked

"hmm" Riley jerked and looked around her as she was brought back from her vivid thoughts. She realized she was still in bed with her boyfriend and it was still dark outside.

"Riley are you okay, you are still up this late clearly spaced out and you looked panicked, what's going on"

"It's nothing" she shrugged

"No it's not Riles, I know that look on your face, the same one you had when we first met, remember your suppliers backed out on you, and this look right there, the wondering eyes; chewing on your upper lip, that look of pure fear" he pointed to her face "made me walk over to you to see how I could help make you smile again" his left arm snaked around her waist and pulled her closed to him "talk to me what's going on"

She knew she had been caught but she definitely wasn't telling him anything even remotely close to Lucas, especially with the emotions that have been going through her head since she saw him earlier that day. "It's just work I'm worried about, you know with the new tech launch Farkle and I have really been on edge wanting to make sure everything goes off without a hitch, we are going to have potential investors, buyers and even shareholders. I feel like the stress is tripled on both our shoulders because we so young, we constantly have to prove ourselves to the entire company". Nathan starts massaging her shoulders almost on instinct and he notices that it does nothing to relax her, it was almost like it made her shoulders more tensed, but he ignored it because he was afraid of what that could mean.

"it's going to be okay babe, just look at it this way you guys make the big launch next week and then you get to take a break and then-" he starts nibbling on her ear while Riley bit her lower lip but unfortunately for Nathan he wasn't the man on her mind and Riley felt even worse about that fact "you and I-" he kissed her shoulders "get to go on that trip to the Bahamas and this time I'm not taking no for an answer, even if it means me asking Farkle myself"

"I promise we will go where you want to go once we launch ok?" she faked a smile on her face to make him drop the conversation and hopefully she could get some sleep before she has to deal with her fireball of a best friend in the morning.

"okay now try and get some sleep you had a long day" both laid down cuddling into each other's arms.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

 **Maya's POV**

As promised, here I am storming into Riley's at 7 in the morning. I know what you're thinking why so early, well I barely got any sleep last night. I'm worried sick about my friend. It might sound insane to worry about something that may or may not have happened years ago, but if you've ever had a friend like Riley; who is simply the most amazing person I've ever met you'll understand. Had we been into girls like that, you already know we would have grand babies by now, no jokes we actually considered it for a while when Riley started her fresh man year in college sorry Josh. I would have done just about anything to make sure Riley didn't get her heart broken and take off on a freaking boat again and the fact that we are extraordinarily close added fuel to the idea. Oh did I mention Riley's gap year was literally the worst year of my life, I had to go through my fresh man year all by myself on a strange campus so hell yeah I was definitely ready to marry the girl when she came back if it meant keeping her in New York, the nay Sayers can shove it. So if there was even a possibility, chance, hunch whatever you want to call it, that Riley went through something years ago that could be affecting her now you bet I'm going to be there for her, no matter how old we get I will always protect her until she finds a man who would do so for her and probably even then. So now you understand why I'm here 7 am wearing my husband's NYU hoddie and sweat pants, hair in a messy bun. Right now I'm sticking with comfort clothes because it is way too early; I'm not a morning person and I need answers plus who cares what I look like this early in the morning, I need to see my little plant of a sister and fix her mess. Groan. Stupid fancy penthouse rules that won't let me up unless I have Riley or Lucas' code and why haven't they given me that yet, oh yeah Riley just moved in, but note to have a conversation about it with Lucas. Now, Riley isn't picking her phone, I know she's awake, I don't want to wake Lucas so here I'm am walking up to the reception desk to a really creepy looking man.

"good morning, how can I help you" said the middle aged male receptionist at the front desk

"Hi I'm here to see my sister Riley Matthews, she moved in yesterday, twentieth floor, my name is Maya Matthews" how rude is this receptionist shamelessly checking out my boobs, hello my eyes are up here you creep.

"okay give me a minute I have to check her guest list" we have the same last names genius, well then again anyone could come here saying they answer the name Matthews so in a way kudos to the management here, seriously dude this is not the time to piss me off, does he not see my wedding ring, maybe I'll run my left hand through my hair like this, no? he's really just going to ignore the huge diamond? okay, be calm Maya he's not worth it, just breath Riley is the main priority here

"I'm sorry Ms Matthews but the occupant you want to see does not have any names on her guest list" ah! curses "would you want me to call her intercom to inform her that she has a guest" no I want to stand here at 7 in the morning and stare at your terrible Mr. potato head looking mustache face

"Yes please" I reply rather calmly considering the fact that I want to rip his head off for basically having a staring contest with my breasts, seriously dude I'm wearing my husband's hoodie that is clearly bigger than me, okay Maya you have to calm down and breath; be nice; channel your inner Riley, she's still in there somewhere, oh there she is, _Hey Maya, don't raffle feathers yet, two of your best friends live in this building so chances are you are going to be seeing this creep whenever you come here_ , oh how I loathe mornings.

"sorry Ms Matthews but no one answered, my guess is she isn't in the house" and now this loser is eyeing my hips, that's it screw being nice I'll get both their passcodes later so I never have to deal with pervert ever again. It's too early in the morning. I didn't get much sleep. I'm worried I'm about Riley. I'm not a morning person so yea screw being nice. I inhale deeply and let my true Maya out to play. I say my next words in a warning tone so he knows I'm on to his BS "she's up there, I know that because she moved in YESTERDAY! And you know why I know that because as I said a few minutes ago SHE'S MY SISTER!" okay this is just ridiculous, I'll have to speak to some kind of management about this sort of eye rape, if that's even a thing.

"Ms Matthews, you are going to have to calm down, our occupants don't appreciate noise" and I don't appreciate being eye rapped

"are you deaf, or do you not know where you are, IT'S NEW YORK CITY! THERE'S NOISE EITHER WAY"

"oh hot stuff, you don't need to raise your pretty voice, listen-" hold up wait a minute 'hot stuff' the fuck does he think he's talking too

"no you listen Mr. Potato head, it's MRS. MATTHEWS to you, now call up my sister's house again or SO HELP ME GOD-"

 **~End of Maya's POV~**

"Maya?"

"Lucas? Lucas! Thank God you showed up, do you people realize you hired a pervert for a receptionist, he basically eye rapped me even after seeing my wedding ring"

"What?" Lucas asked as his temper slowly began to surface "Phil is this true"

"Mr. Friar, I have no idea what this crazy bitch is talking about" shoving her hand bad to Lucas' chest, Maya launches above the desk in an attempt to get her hands on the middle aged man but Lucas thinking on instinct was quick enough to catch her waist and pulled her back before she did something that will land her with a civil lawsuit.

"RANGER RICK YOU LET ME GO THIS MINTUE" Maya squirms to get free from his grasp to no avail

"I'll let you go when you promise you wouldn't do something that will land you in jail, remember Melvin, yea that kid needs his mother and not from a jail cell" and that is how you calm down a furious mother. Immediately she's still he lets go. "as for you Phil I'm sure my co board members of the building would love to hear about your escapades"

"Mr. Friar I am so sorry; I didn't know she actually knew anybody in this building"

Maya was about to fly again but Lucas didn't let her get her feet off the ground this time "que la cabeza de patata, si no fuera por mi amigo me habría asegurado de que nunca tuvo hijos, que la cabeza de Dick" Maya said with so much anger still flowing through her

"Ok Maya let's get you upstairs before you perform circumcision. I'll make sure you never have to see him again" with that he pulled her back into the elevator with so much reluctance on Maya's end. Once the elevator door was shot Lucas couldn't help but chuckle at what Maya said, she hadn't changed one bit she was still the fire ball she was when he first met her.

"Ranger Rick don't even start with me this morning or you'll be next on my list" he's hands immediately go up in surrender

"I wouldn't dare; I still appreciate my boys" she then nods her head in content that her point has been made: nobody was going to mess with her this morning "oh yea quick question, how is Riley my new next door neighbour or to be specific what did you guys do to the man who use to live there, he was a momma's boy who showed no interest in moving away"

Maya shrugged her shoulders and faked ignorance "I have no idea of what you're talking about" Lies! She knew exactly what she and Farkle did to get rid of the man-child who lived there and let's just say he didn't go cheap.

"Did you threaten to neuter him too" Lucas asked with raised eye brows as the elevator door swung open to Lucas and Riley's floor and both stepped off

"I still have no idea of what you speak of"

"so she comes back to the city and then the house next to mine conveniently becomes available, when she needs a place to say"

"gees huckleberry, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're keeping tabs on her"

Lucas exhaled "you are obviously here to see her; I was supposed to check on her after our shocking run in yesterday. She almost went had an asthma attack while we were stuck in the elevator"

"WHAT!" Maya's eyes went wild, that was in no way shape or form part of the plan. This was one of her biggest concerns with their plan

"Yea luckily, she had a box filled with inhalers in her hands" Maya released a sigh of relief "next time a heads up would be nice"

"I have to get to her right now" she basically sprinted to Riley's door and lucky for her it was unlocked, so she ran in, locked it behind her before Lucas could get in because she knew Nathan was most likely lying on Riley's bed and she wasn't going to risk Lucas seeing that, she and her friends hard come too far in their scheme. Maya also took note of the unlocked door and with the creep she just encountered she was defiantly having a conversation with the brunette about her safety in this new place hell she was already scheduling a trip in her head to the hard ware store or wherever people buy door locks from.

"RILEY GRACE MATTHEWS GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT OR I'M COMING UP"

 **A/N**

 **THANKS FOR READING, I'M SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE, SCHOOL JUST STARTED AND I'M ALREADY EXHAUSTED.**

 **OKAY I'M TEAM RUCAS ALL THE WAY BUT MAYA HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FAVORITE CHARACTER ON THE SHOW, I LOVED HER ATTITUDE AT THE BEGINNING SO I WAS EXTREMELY PISSED WHEN SHE WENT SOFT IN SEASON 2, THEN I THOUGHT WHY NOT BRING THAT VERSION OF MAYA BACK IN MY FIC HENCE THE MAYA POV. I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD DO A RILEY POV MAYBE, MAYBE NOT LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND DON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND FOLLOW**


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

"RILEY GRACE MATTHEWS GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT OR I'M COMING UP"

Nathan woke up from one of the best dreams he had ever had of him and Riley, so you could imagine his frustration to be awoken by someone screaming from outside Riley's bedroom.

"RILEY I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU CAN'T RUN OR HIDE FROM ME, I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO COME OUT SOON" he struggled with the duvet and after much grumbling and a few curse words underneath his breath, he managed to stumble out of bed with sleepy eyes. He moved over to the door and opened it to be met with a very agitated and irritated blonde "Maya? do you know what time it is?"

"out of my way lover boy I'm not here for you" she maneuvered her way passed him but turned around briefly to take a good look at a shirtless Nathan "I know you're probably mad at me but can I just say, this?" she gestured to his frame "wow" she winked at him and immediately ran and jump on Riley's bed. Nathan just smirked and left the room to go start breakfast for his girlfriend.

"Riley get up we need to talk" Maya tugged on the covers that were currently hiding the brunette. Seeing as Riley still wouldn't wake up she thought of an old trick she used on her best friend back in high school, she knew it was a long shot but she was going to try and seeing as Nathan was far from ear shot she whispered in a southern accent "Riley it's me Lucas I wanna be a veterinarian and I wanna kiss your face" Maya heard the kissing noise coming from underneath the sheets and instantly she knew Riley was still sleeping so the blonde started bouncing on top of Riley as a last resort since the Lucas bit wasn't working. "common sleepy head get up I don't like mornings"

"I don't wanna"

"so you did see my messages last night" Maya continued the little tug of war with Riley and the covers.

"I have no idea what you speak of"

"RILEY! Ring power"

"curses!" Riley slowly pushed the covers off and was met with piercing blue eyes "Hi peaches"

Maya squinted her eyes and folded her arms to show she meant business "beginning of our high school senior year what happened to you?"

"I told you peaches my asthma was acting up and the doctors said it would be best if I take some time off school"

"yea…ok that all sounds real convincing and well thought out on your end, so tell me why Josh would say it was a 'flu that wouldn't pass' and I'm quoting him just so you know"

"he probably forgot" Riley said with a shaky voice. She knew Maya had caught her in her lie but she didn't feel like she was ready to spill her truth just yet and especially not when her boyfriend who wasn't Lucas was in the same vicinity.

"Riles you and I don't keep secrets" she slowly got up from the bed and began to scan the room "you of all people should know what keeping secrets could do to people" Riley flinched at that and Maya noticed making her even more determined to find what she was looking for, she continued on her little hunt which puzzled Riley as to what her crazy blonde friend was searching for "you know I've never been a morning person, so me being here, asking you this, should tell you how important it is to me that I find out"

"Peaches what are looking for?"

and finally she spotted what she as searching for _Riley's phone_. She didn't waste time immediately she found it, she grabbed it and unlocked the phone since she knew the password

"MAYA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Riley tried to reach for the blonde but it was too late, Maya had seen what she was looking for.

"I'm looking for proof that I was right and I just found it" Maya said as she turned the phone to Riley's face. Riley was now face to face with her phone showing the text message from her older brother last night giving her a heads up

"You still wanna stick with your asthma story?"

"Peaches I can't talk about this here, Nathan is just downstairs. I can't risk him knowing about this"

As the words left Riley's mouth a sense of fear gripped Maya, yes she pushed to find out what was going on with Riley but seeing the look on her best friend's face right now, her confidence level of her wanting to find out diminished in a split second. But she knew she would constantly wonder about it so she decided to be strong and be there for Riley as much as she could.

"Let's take a walk to the park real quick"

"ok, let me get my sweat pants"

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"Honey I'm so sorry, why wouldn't you come to me? I could have been there for you" Maya said while hugging Riley as both girls sat on the grass at park

"yea looking back at the whole situation now I wish I had told you and him"

"he doesn't know?"

"at first he didn't but now he does. I couldn't picture myself telling anyone especially Lucas, I was terrified when I found out, I couldn't even eat or sleep, I just kept wondering what I was going to do, what my future was going to be like, and then my mum noticed. She asked me bunch of confusing questions and basically figured it out, she took me to the hospital and we did all the necessary checkups and the doctor told us that the baby and I were fine" she huffed and released a few tears "Few weeks passed Luke was still away on his family vacation with Missy and her family and I wasn't about to tell him that I was pregnant over the phone. Just when I finally got to a place where I had accepted my situation, I started to picture my kid and Luke in our home somewhere" she sobbed "I finally accepted the baby Maya, someone was growing inside of me and I loved it with everything inside of me even if I hadn't met him or her yet, right then the universe decided to play a cruel joke on me and poof almost like a magic show my kid was gone, just gone peaches no explanation, one day there was a heartbeat and the next day they couldn't find one" Maya at this point was a sobbing mess both girls just held on to each other for a little while to let the tears flow freely

"Riley look at me, growing up, after everything we've experienced so far, if there's one thing we've learnt from life is that it knows what it's doing, it has its reasons for everything" she sniffled "and as twisted as it may sound, and you might not have seen it then hell even now, there is a reason it happened to you. I just wish I could have been by your side through it all but just know I'm going to be here now whenever you need me, whenever you want to talk or you just need a shoulder to cry on you just call me okay?" Riley nodded "so what about the breakup how did that even happen"

"I don't even know where to begin, things just weren't the same for us after that, I hurt him Maya, he found out because I slipped up, he heard me over a pocket dial. I couldn't understand what was wrong with me at time, I got so defensive, for some reason I couldn't admit what I did and then I kept accusing him of random things that led to constant fighting it was just a mess that I made"

"it's okay Riles, you were both really young going through something big, it's understandable that you guys couldn't handle what was going on"

"I wish I could have at least apologized to him you know, I never did, he did nothing wrong and quite frankly that one fact still hunts me, I wasn't myself I hurt him and ignored it"

"you could talk to him now you know, it's never too late"

"funny you should say that I ran into him yesterday, in the elevator, I literally almost passed out"

"he told me"

"what, when?"

It was at this point Maya realized Riley had not introduced herself to her new neighbours ergo Riley was about to find out what she and Farkle had been plotting "ugh I sorta…kinda ran into him this morning" Maya started dragging her words hoping Riley will catch on "while I was coming up-" Maya went on to explain her run on with the Phil the creep and how Lucas came down and found her

"wait… I don't understand, he...why…how…" then it hit her "he lives in my building doesn't he?"

"actually" Maya smiled "he kinda, sorta, lives next to you" Maya began to retreat slowly because she could see a combination of emotions on her friend's face that she couldn't quite decipher but it scared her a little bit

Riley said her next words very slow and in a very low tune almost murdery "Peaches I love you that's why I'm going to give you a five second head start, and I strongly advise you to use em" with that the blonde took off running with Riley not far behind her.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

The eventful weekend passed and Riley was more than furious with Maya and Farkle for what they did. She was already trying to figure out the past feelings that were creeping up on her while she was dating someone else, now living right next to him, running into him all the time, was not going to help her inner turmoil. So it's Monday morning and she definitely has some choice words for Farkle. She finally settled herself when she got to work, her assistant Shelby informed her that she had an important meeting to get to with a couple of potential buyers so she had to push her conversation with Farkle for a few more hours.

The entire morning Farkle successfully dodged Riley, after hearing from Maya how Riley chased her round the park, tackled her and spanked her, yes spanked her right on the tushie like a mother would do to a naughty kid. Farkle didn't know what his punishment would be and he was not ready to find out. It might sound strange that people in their early thirties still played with each other like that but he knew when it came to himself, Riley and Maya even though they were grown adults, their childhood shenanigans grew with them, so hearing Riley's actions didn't surprise him at all. He made plans with Josh, Zay and Lucas to go out for lunch, again staying very far away from Riley because according to Maya, Riley's exact words for him were: _tell squeaky the mouse he's next_. What he didn't anticipate was what would happened during their lunch period.

Riley came out of her last meeting in perfect timing for Farkle's lunch break. She took the private elevator that went to hers and Farkle's section of the floor. Immediately she got off she went straight to his office with every intension to probably spank him too but when she entered his office-

"FARKLE YOU SON OF A-" she did not expect to see the Texas doctor sitting on Farkle's sit using his computer. She froze like she did when she saw him over the weekend, as much as she tried to retreat or at least form words, she just couldn't. Brown eyes to green, neither one of them knowing what to do or say, he was just as stunned as she was.

He finally broke the silence because it felt like they stared at each for what felt like an eternity "Hey"

"Hi"

"Hey" it felt too familiar to him and it didn't hurt any less that he couldn't find the words to say to the woman in front of him. This was someone he had once been able to talk to for hours at a time and feel like the rest of the world didn't exist. Her presence alone brought him this soothing sensation within him that he couldn't explain even if he tried. The feeling existed all those years ago in high school and right now fifteen plus years later here she stands right in front of him and that soothing feeling was back in full force.

"I-I um I was just looking for F-Farkle" Riley stammered

"He and Josh got held up in a meeting, we were supposed to go out for lunch with Zay as well"

"o-okay I'll just-" she was struggling to get her words out so she pointed to the door and turned to leave but he stopped her before she got the chance to

"Riley wait!" he stood up in haste "sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice, it's just um- how are you? I never got a chance to check up on you after the elevator incident"

"I'm okay thanks for asking, I should really go find Farkle" she felt like she had gathered enough strength for this, and by _enough_ she means enough to get her the hell away from this situation because just looking at him in his baby blue button down, rolled up sleeves shirt that hugged his perfectly shaped upper body basically screaming to the world that there was one smoking hot body underneath, she could feel her knees go wobbly. She thought of two things she could do, one; jump his bones right here in Farkle's office or option number two get the flipping hell out of this place asap, the latter seem to be the more plausible decision so she tried to leave again but he stopped her

"Wait! um I'm sorry, again" he was so flustered that much was evident from the blood creeping up to his cheek as he got up and walked around the table to get right in front of her, preventing her from getting to the exit.

This scared Riley a little giving her aforementioned inner debate but for Lucas he had been dying to get close to her since he saw in the elevator, he had dreamed about all the moments they shared for years and wondered if he was ever going to see or have those moments with her ever again. Since he ran into her on the elevator she was literally all he could think about. The elevator meet replayed vividly in his mind. Of all the ways he thought he was going to reunite with her, the elevator incident was definitely not on his list, he didn't think he would get her so close to him so soon, that he would hold her or even get to smell her 'sweet cranberry rose', he could never forget her favorite flavour of body wash even if he tried "it's really good to see you Riles" he said softly and Riley's heart skipped a beat.

She sighed in relief as she released a breath she didn't know she was holding "same here"

"so I guess we're neighbours now?"

"yea weird"

"why would it be weird" he said while he tilted his head to the side slightly with squinted eyes which made his face look even more sexy to Riley.

she searched her brain for a comeback that wouldn't hurt him for what she had just said. She wondered why she was thinking so much into this, yes seeing him right now in physical not just in her dreams or a figment of her imagination, she realized just how much she had missed him, missed being around him, talking to him, holding him, she could literally feel the tug in her heart towards him and whether he knew it or not he held and was pulling the strings; he always did and then there was the bonus feeling of, as Missy had once colourfully described 'wanting to hump his brains out'. While it was nice to fantasize about all that, she wasn't even sure if they were even friends at this point, after all they hadn't seen or spoken to each other in years so he might as well be a stranger to her right now, so why did she care so much, more importantly why did _he_ care at all, why was he standing so close to her? "I didn't mean it like that, um it just came as a surprise to me that's all"

"oh okay. maybe we could hang out sometime?" he got a little closer looking straight into her brown orbs, almost reaching to touch her again because he just couldn't resist it anymore, immediately Farkle, Zay and Josh entered the office not giving Riley a chance to respond. Instantly they could sense the tension that filled the room. Riley released a breath and took this as her way out of the sexual tension they had created, she basically disappeared with the speed she used to exit the office. Lucas felt the hurt inside of him with what she just did, it was his biggest fear of reconnecting with her happening right in front of him, he shrugged it off and hid his obvious frustration to save face for the sake of his friends that just entered.

"Hey Riley, bye Riley" Zay said really confused as she walked off passed him.

"Lucas? What did you say to my sister? she looked like a kid running from a ghost"

"she was running alright" Lucas said underneath his breath to himself "don't worry about it, let's go get lunch I'm starving"

Farkle put a hand on his friend's shoulder because he could see right through his act "are you okay Lucas, we could about if you want"

"thanks buddy but I'm fine, can we just go get food now"

"and the man has spoken" Zay said trying to relieve the awkwardness "what are we having Chinese, Mexican or wait what am I saying I own a restaurant, you knuckle heads get to pay me for _your_ lunch wow I feel like I just got over every single high school bully experience right now". The other men just chuckled at Zay's antics and Lucas could not be more grateful for Zay changing the subject.

 **A/N**

 **Thanks for reading, i just want to apologize for the slow updates, school is back in session, barely two weeks into junior year in college and i already feel like i'm drowning, I promise to right when I get the chance and I'll probably make the chapters super long at least to make up for the slow updates.**

 **Also just wanted to remind my wonderful readers that I made sure to make my story rated M as you can see from the language in this chapter, this is just their first actual conversation and things only get more intense and steamy for them, I mean it has been 15 YEARS of built up want**

 **Again thanks for reading please follow or favourite for future chapters and those that take time out to leave a review i could not be more grateful, it literally makes my day when i see your comments**


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

 **A/N**

 **I strongly advice you check out this link before you read this chapter. Its Lucas' house I don't think I did a good job describing it. So to help visualization as well as a make up for my poor description. I'll put it up on my bio as well just in case that's easier to access. Don't forget copy the link and put paste it in a new tab to actually see the image.**

/2015/11/4-ultra-luxurious-interiors-decorated-in-black-and-white

 **it's low-key my dream home but hey I might as well lend it to my characters before I can get it for myself someday ;-)**

About two weeks had passed since Riley had the second run in with Lucas at Farkle's office, after she basically sprinted out of the office, her plans to get back at Farkle went out the window. In the past two weeks she had meticulously avoided Lucas physically by any means necessary but she had been failing to do so subconsciously.

Whenever she closed her eyes, him and what they could have been was all she could see. she could imagine him and whatever he was doing so clearly because all that stood between them now was just a wall. On more than one occasion she had found herself using her hands to feel the wall that separated their homes, just wishing it will come tumbling down. She had thought of walking over to his place more times than she could count in the past two weeks but she always chickened out last minute. She felt like she was always on edge trying to hide these feelings from everyone around her.

Even Nathan had started to pick up on her change of attitude around him, she would flinch when he came around or even touched her, she refused herself from having sex with him because of her own inner turmoil. Yes, she knew it was very wrong to treat Nathan this way because all he had ever done is showed her that he loved and cared for her but she couldn't help herself. Sleeping with her boyfriend just didn't feel right anymore (not with Lucas probably at the other side of the wall) and she didn't have the heart to tell him anything that was truly going on with her. She would always give excuses that she was either too tired from work or she didn't feel like it. Nathan had no idea as to what was causing these changes because he didn't even know Lucas existed, let alone that this Lucas had a history with his girlfriend and he was somewhat back in her life living right next door, and this same Lucas is best friends with all the people Riley holds dear to her heart.

So its Friday night and Maya, Smackle, Vanessa and Darby came over to see Riley at her place, while the boys where at Lucas'. The girls came in through Riley's private elevator so no one had to deal with rude receptionists.

"Sup hot mama!" Darby said as she tickled and hugged Riley from behind, who was currently doing office work on her kitchen island and sipping mimosa.

Riley chuckled at her friend's antics and pecked Darby's cheek "Hey sweet face, I missed you, I feel like I haven't seen enough you since I got back to the city"

Darby took Riley's drink and downed it as she took a sit beside her "who's fault is that, Ms. Workaholic"

"it's the same situation I'm currently facing with Farkle. There are literally papers and documents all over our bed" Isadora took a seat on the space chair opposite to Riley

"You guys we launch our tech this Sunday, everything has to be perfect"

Maya just rolled her eyes because she could swear Josh said the same thing just this morning "Riles common its Friday night, let's do something fun or at least hang out with the guys they are all just next door you know?"

"don't remind me" Riley finally closed her laptop and started to gather her documents up, she knew with the girls around she wasn't going to get anything done

"Common Riles" Maya begged "when last did we get our entire group all together hanging out like we use to, plus Zay is making barbeque, summer's almost over and we won't be able to have something like this during winter and its convenient just right next door" the other girls started to chuckle but Riley was not amused by any of it

"convenient? Convenient you say, you have no idea what you guys have done to me"

Vanessa sighed "Riley you can't avoid him forever, just talk to him"

"Remember Nathan? Tall? Brunette? My boyfriend? and I'm not avoiding him"

"Then prove it" Vanessa spat

"prove what"

"come with us to go hang out with the guys as friends, and as the bride to be I'm asking my maid of honour to do this for me. ITS FOR THE BRIDE!"

"No no no you can't pull the 'it's for the bride' strings yet, we haven't even started officially planning the wedding, why can't we hang out here or even go out and do something fun, it is Friday night in New York City after all" Riley was trying her hardest to defend herself as well as doing all she could to not go over to his place. She knew the moment she starts going over there, she won't be able to stop herself from getting close to him again and for the sake of Nathan that just couldn't happen.

Smackle picked up on what Riley was doing "Bubbles are you scared of going over there?"

"No I'm not" Riley said in a high pitched voice and the girls instantly knew she was lying. Riley knew she had been caught so she cleared her throat and said it again in a normal tone "seriously I don't know why my voice went all squeaky but I'm not scared"

Maya stood up and smiled- but she was deeply frustrated with Riley's hesitance- as she snaked one of her arms around Riley's waist practically pushing her through the door "well let's go then". Maya turned around and winked at the girls. What Riley didn't know was that, this was no random visit, Zay had told them that neither Riley nor Lucas had seen each other since the office run in, the group of friends weren't sure which one of them was playing chicken, all they knew was apart from Riley no member of their group not even Riley's parent had any form of faith whatsoever in the longevity of Riley and Nathan's relationship and they weren't willing to risk Riley taking off again, so they decided if it meant dragging Riley and Lucas to be with each other then so be it.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

The girls finally got Riley to Lucas' door. Josh opened it and was shocked, he never thought his sister would actually come here this way, he still strongly believed that if anything was going to happen between his sister and one of his best friends, it would be because they came together on their own and not because other people meddled.

"Hey guys, I see you made it for the barbeque" Josh couldn't begin to hide his nervousness for how this situation could go down

"Out of my way boing, I SMELL STEAKS" Maya screamed as she sprinted to the balcony. Riley looked around her and she was surprised to see the décor Lucas had chosen for his place, she expected to see a Texas themed house but this was quite the opposite, the entire living room had modern day written all over it, from the connecting grey love seats with grey and black pillows that seemed recessed into the floor like a pit, to the beautifully designed light brown hard wood floors. In summary she was speechless and loved every single detail about the place, she cursed underneath her breath for only her to hear because she just realized that the more she knew about him, the more parts of him (like his home) she sees, the more vivid her thoughts about him would get.

Lucas came into the living room from the balcony wearing navy blue sweat pants and a black tank that hugged his torso and exposed his muscular arms, the sight of him emerging from the balcony looking like a potter's masterpiece made Riley's knees go weak and they actually gave way thankfully Vanessa was standing right beside her and noticed Riley's movement and quickly caught her before anyone could notice it "I got you girl, I see him too" Vanessa whispered to Riley, while the brunette just mouthed a 'thank you'.

Lucas just noticed the girls in his living room "hey you guys made it, steaks are almost-" and then his eyes met Riley's, who was still holding on to Vanessa trying her best to look at anything but him "Riley? You came?" he was shocked but not in a bad way, more in a 'the heavens just blessed me' kind of shock and his eyes got ten times brighter just by the sight of her in his home, that much was evident to everyone in the room except Riley because she still refused to look him in the eyes

"yea I did, if that's okay" She said shyly while Vanessa slipped out to go meet her fiancé

"It's always okay Riles, how are you" he couldn't stop staring even if he tried, he noticed her hair was much shorter than when they were younger, it was maybe half an inch below her chin on the sides of her face and much shorter in the back, like none of it touched her neck from behind. Funny enough the both of them were kind of matching, she wore a plain black V-neck fitted T that clearly announced her boobs without showing any cleavage and a navy blue checkered pyjama shorts.

She smiled and finally looked him in the eyes; they had nothing but endearment written all over them. She slightly cranked her neck to the side while moving towards him, with the expression of 'come here you big idiot' on her face; as she moved towards him in that moment she felt this feeling of bravery; mixed with want; mixed with she freaking missed him; add all this together she had no idea how it happened but her arms ended up around his neck and his hands snaked around her waist, hugging her tightly.

Sparks

Electricity

Voltage

Fireworks; freaking fourth of July in the white house, whatever you want to call it; then multiply that by infinity that's the only way you could explain the feeling both went through in that moment. Riley's eyes held a bit of tears but she held them in with everything within her, the feeling of 'being home', actually feeling the comfort of home, overwhelmed her. While Lucas had the combination of a smile, grin and teary eyes.

The eyes of the other members of their group Josh included couldn't get any wider as they were all peeping at this exchange. Maya couldn't hold back her tears even if she wanted to.

"you've asked me that question the three times you've seen me in what fifteen years? The answer's still the same Luke" He still had his hands around her waist, not wanted to let go of this high he was currently on

"I know it's just… I don't know" he was so flustered that much was evident from the blood creeping up to his cheeks "a habit I guess"

She couldn't help but smile and then she finally but reluctantly pulled away "well I'm doing fine; you have a really lovely home" she gestured around her "I never got a chance to redecorate mine, my work wouldn't let me"

"I know you Riles I'm very sure you'll find the time soon enough plus I wish I could take all the credit but my mom did most of arrangements" the smile on Riley's face faltered a little because she never really had great experiences with Mrs. Friar when they were kids. For some reason Lucas' mom always had an unknown issue with her and she did very little to hide her opinions on her disapproval of their relationship. "I just made sure she didn't go overboard with everything, it's still my space after all"

"well she did an incredible job, by the way how is she?" she asked genuinely because no matter how Lucas' mom felt about her, Riley still cared for her. Riley started moving around the living room; this was her way of creating some kind of space between them or at least rid herself of all the sparks shooting inside her from the much needed hug. She realized that she had been standing too close to him, for the sake of her own sanity she had to move because all she wanted to do was run into his arms again, she had no control over the longing feeling she felt for him in her heart; just being in his presence, she realized she was craving the sense of protection she had felt when he held her, who was she kidding she craved being with him God she missed him so much. She knew she couldn't have any of that, not anymore so all she could do now was play it cool and move away from him. Hell for all she knew he was probably into somebody else.

It was more than easy for Lucas to follow her around wherever she going "She's doing fine with my dad, they leave in the Hamptons now. NYC got too loud for them"

The others had long noticed their interactions and one by one left to chill out in the balcony with Zay therefore leaving Riley and Lucas to connect.

She chuckled "I can see that; I remember your mom never liked the busy city, she'd always complain about the traffic, what was that she use to say oh…"

" _I'll keep saying it till your daddy listens ain't nothing like life in Austin_ " they said in unison and laughed at the fond memory, well on Riley's end she didn't have the southern drawl Mrs. Friar has. She couldn't help it, her heart felt heavy because she really did miss this, talking with him, connecting with him no matter how small the details were but she had to snap out of it.

Then Riley realized he was standing right in front of her again _way too close_ she could smell his cologne all too well. All she had to do was slip even in the slightest and she would be able to feel his touch; what she just figured she had been craving. Realizing this wasn't the best position for her to be in, she diverted her attention to something else. That was when Riley noticed a picture on one of the side stools "oh my gosh Luke you still have this?"

His smile matched hers "Yea it's one of the few things that end of following me no matter where I move to" It was a picture of their little group before they left the ski lodge. They looked so young and so happy in the picture; it was where everything started to go good between them, the ugly triangle ended and they all came out stronger than ever. As happy as Riley had been in the moment she saw the picture she couldn't help the sting she felt once it dawned on her that of all the faces smiling back at her, the one relationship among all of them that she cared for the most besides hers and Mayas was the only one that was really none existent at this point and it killed her more than anything. She didn't just lose her boyfriend (and if she would admit to herself, the love of her life) but she lost her best friend too.

She shook her head out of those thoughts because she didn't want to him to see her hurt, she could already feel the sting in her eyes "I um I should-d" she was fighting the tears that threaten to fall as she struggled to get her words out "I'm sorry could I use your bathroom really quick"

He knew her like the back of his palm and he could tell that something was wrong with the way she held on to the picture, he didn't want to worry anyone else so he decided to talk to her about it when next he could get her alone "sure it's down the hall first door on the right"

"Thanks" she walked away as quickly as she could. Immediately she got to the bathroom she let the tears run freely for few seconds before getting it together. She exhaled and looked in the mirror _ah get it together Matthews you are stronger than this, it's just one evening and then you're out of here_. A knock on the door pulls her out of her thoughts

"Hey Riles, you okay" Josh said from the other end of the door

"yea I'll be out in a minute"

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

The rest of the evening went by smoothly, Riley managed to keep her composure around Lucas the whole time. It helped that their friends were present, that helped cancel out any of the tension and awkwardness that she had been feeling since she stepped out of the bathroom and Riley could not be more grateful for it. The group got lost in conversations, good food and some liquid courage that really helped them let lose all the more. They were able to catch up with just about everything. Lucas could not be more thankful for this because it was the opportunity he had been waiting for to find out all about Riley's life. Falling into conversations with her came all too naturally to him, as the night progressed it became one of the easiest things both of them had done in a long time, the more they talked, the more the worries Riley had melted into a blur, actually every other person in Lucas' house became a blur to both of them. He learnt that Riley, at different points in the last fifteen years had lived in all twenty-eight countries that belonged to the European Union, she toured parts of Asia for a bit granted her Asian tour was for business expansion but she did take a few flight classes from a friend in Dubai for the fun of it. The one that was least shocking to him was that she volunteered to live in Africa for a few months to offer help to under developed countries as part of Minkus International cooperate social responsibilities.

While Riley and Lucas had somehow gravitated to themselves on the couches that were recessed into the floors like a pit, the rest of their group sat on the floor above the pit of living room admiring their work. They noticed the reconnection happen the moment Zay mentioned losing money on a bet for a basketball game, from there all hell broke loose on Riley's end then Lucas jumped in to defend his friend and well that's how they somehow ended up on the couches by themselves talking like they were the only ones in the house. Josh expected it to happen but not this fast, he had his reservations about this whole situation because even if their group of friends refuse to acknowledge it, Nathan was still Riley's apparently serious boyfriend.

"See I told y'all its weird" Zay whispered and subtly gestured to the couch area

Darby smacked him upside the head playfully "no its not, its adorable almost like magic" Darby eyes grew wider at the idea "oh my gosh you guys they have magic powers"

Smackle just rolled her eyes because if she could get a penny for how many times she had said this, she'll be richer than all of them combined "there's no such thing as magic! I do however believe in the obvious psychological connection they seem to be experiencing"

"don't ruin this with science talk Smackle" Maya couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes "my best friend is finally going to be happy again and she's never going to leave again"

"Babe remember she is also happy with her boyfriend right now"

"yea and birds can fly; fishes can swim; let it go NOBODY cares about that" she waved it off like he didn't say anything, Josh gives her a good eye roll.

"you don't care that she's happy?"

"of course I care about her happiness what do you think we are doing all this for, look boing it seems like you're missing the bigger picture, we are talking of long term happiness and I don't trust Nathan to give her that"

"and you trust Lucas?" Josh asked

"do you not trust him? Look where is all this coming from? You know Lucas, he's a good guy, hell you were with him for a while after their breakup, you saw how it affected him and you know damn well that he regretted losing Riley the way he did, just look at his face right now" she gestured to Lucas "the past fifteen years when last did you see him look this happy even Riley she looks like… like after all this time she's finally home"

"She does look happy" Josh smiled softly as he stared at his baby sister "just be cautious of what you guys are doing, I don't want anyone getting hurt again" Josh meant well but he just couldn't help this feeling that all of it was going to blow up somehow and call him crazy but all he wanted was to be able to keep his sister around.

"You guys its almost twelve midnight, do we just leave because at this point I don't think they'll notice" Yogi said again gesturing to the two former couple laughing over something on the television

"yea I agree, I don't think they'll notice. Just follow my lead probably in two's we'll head out through the back door" Farkle said as he grabbed Smackle's hand to help her up. And as predicted the rest of group followed suite and neither Riley or Lucas noticed their friends were gone

As happy as Lucas was for Riley that she got to live such an exciting life, there was a part of him that felt hurt; for one he wished he could have been right beside her to share all the experiences; then there was the most depressing and heart shattering reason that she discovered her love for travelling when she was trying to get away from him. He had to smile the whole time to cover the hurt he felt but he swore to himself that now that she was comfortable around him again, he would be damned if he let her slip away again. Not to be disrespectful to her 'boyfriend' but hearing all about Riley's life; the matured Riley; all these new details about her; and the fact that he missed most of it just about killed him on the inside, so at this point Nathan was pretty much a none factor to him, and if Lucas wanted to be truly honest he didn't mind stealing Riley away from the Nathan character.

"Okay so tell me hypothetically"

"uhmm" Riley slouched a little on his comfortable couch, leaning closer to him shoulders relaxed, head looking to the ceiling

"of all the places you've been to apart from the US obviously, which one would picture yourself living for the rest of your life"

"oh that one's easy um it's an Island in the Caribbean's called the British Virgin Islands. Not a lot of people live there but the scenery is just beautiful" She could almost picture herself on a hammock on one of the beaches

"that's interesting I could have sworn you would say Paris" He mimicked her position on the couch right next to hers while their fingers played with each other

"Well, Paris is beautiful and amazing don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind a vacation there soon, but for the rest of my life I'll pick the island, not just for how amazing the place is but I met someone there"

"Oh" he couldn't wipe the look of disappointment from his face as his jealous began to bubble up. Just when he thought his only competition was Nathan here comes another mystery man that she wants to spend the rest of life with on island.

"she is literally the most amazing person I have ever met" he seemed more relaxed hearing it was a woman but then he wondered why she would want to spend the rest of her life with some strange woman "her name is Erica, she lived across the street from me. She's even goofier than me and my dad put together"

"what makes her so special that you want to spend the rest of your life with her"

Her smile fell a little "she's about a year younger than me but I bonded with her easily because she use to leave in New York. She showed me all around town for the first couple of weeks I was there, she went furniture shopping with me, she made sure my transition into a new territory was smooth for me. She even introduced me to so many nice people. Then life got in the way for her, she lost her husband, he died in a boating accident, she was lucky to have survived. They were high school sweethearts. I met him briefly before he passed, he was just as nice as his wife. I brought over some food after the funeral service and then I decided to stay with her after everybody left that night….

 ** _Flashback Riley's pov_**

 _After everyone left that night, I began to clean the house. I cleared the living room, did the dishes and vacuumed the floors. When I was done I went up the stairs to check on Erica._

 _As I got closer and closer to Erica's room, I could hear her basically balling her eyes out from her cries. I rushed into the room to find my friend on the floor clutching unto objects in her hands, I couldn't see what they were neither did I care. I pulled her into a hug and giving Erica's small statue it was easy for me to rock her back and forth in my arms like my mom does for me when I cry._

 _"Everything is going to be okay, I'm here for you okay, you are not alone?"_

 _"How ironic you should say that" Erica said as she finally opened her hands to show Riley what she was holding on to. It was revealed to be three pregnancy tests that all read positive. I sucked in air the moment I she saw it._

 _"He's never going to meet him or her Riles, and it will never meet its father. How the hell am I supposed to deal with this. Why did he have to leave me alone with a baby" the little blonde woman fell back into Riley's arms and cried some more_

 _"first of all I know he is going to watch over you and the baby, he's going to be with you through this and so am I; you're not alone; I'm not going anywhere okay."_

 ** _End Flashback_**

"She had twins, Riley after me and Teddy junior after his father. I stayed with her all through the pregnancy and I think a year and a half after they were born, but I had to come home in between for the company's sake. I did that until she met someone that I trusted could take care of her and the kids. and at a convenient time too because Farkle needed me to come home. But I make sure I visit at least once a year no matter where I am in the world. I've never told anyone about them before, but those kids Luke, oh God those kids are just amazing, they look just like their dad."

Lucas saw the way her eyes lit up talking about these people that yet again he might never get to meet because he wasn't with her. But this moment with Riley right now he wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Don't tell Farkle but Erica and her kids are the reason I pushed so hard to open a branch office of the company on the Island. I was sorta running out of excuses to leave New York to go see them. I mean Farkle suspected something was up, they all made up a theory that I had a husband in some foreign country that I kept running back to. That joke ran on for way too long" the mere thought of that Riley could have been married set is blood on fire even though it wasn't even true.

"How is she now" Lucas asked

"She's great, she's still with the guy I left her with all those years ago, the kids will be nine in November, wow…" she kept stirring into space picturing her time with the twins "where does time go, I remember going with Erica to drop them off on their first day of preschool" Tears had already started to gather in her eyes. Lucas saw this and gently squeezed her hand that he was holding. He could see this was a really sensitive subject for Riley because if life hadn't been so cruel, they would have had their own kid to tell stories about right now.

"Riles?"

"Hmm" she turned to face him, her face just centimeters away from his face with the way they were positioned on the couch.

"You know I'll be here right, if you ever want to talk about it" she understood exactly what he was talking about and she was thankful he understood what she was going through. Her hands moved on to caress his cheek

"I know, thanks" They remained in that position for a while, staring into each other eyes, just soaking in the moment as long as they could until Riley's phone went off. She reluctantly looked at it and saw it was a text from Nathan.

Text Messages

 **Nate**

 _Hey babe, sorry I know it's late but I really want to see you I'm almost at your building right now. see you soon_

Her eyes went wide seeing the text and now comprehending what was going on, all her friends had gone home; It was almost two in the morning; Nathan was coming to see her and she was in Lucas' place alone with him. She got up instantly as her brain finally processed everything

"I have to go"

"What? Why?" he got up following behind her, he hoped they would fall asleep together in the living room

"I don't leave here, and my…" the next word was so heavy for her to say, she felt her heart become heavy just by the thought of saying it to him "…boyfriend is on his way up to see me and its pretty late"

He held on to her wrist because quite frankly he felt like if he let go, she would leave, go back to her boyfriend and forget all about him "I wish you didn't have to go, it felt really good to talk to you again" his emotions were made abundantly clear with every word he said

"same here, I could come back tomorrow, probably have dinner if you want" she didn't want to leave at all, physically her legs were moving towards the door but her heart was definitely still in the house she stood in

"I'd love that" he reluctantly let go for her wrist for a millisecond when she turned to leave. He caught the arm again and pulled in, to do the one thing he had been dying to do all night, hell since he caught her in the elevator, he kissed her.

 **A/N**

 **Finally they kissed, I was wondering when that was going to happen ;-). okay things in the story are about to get messy and then good and then really messy again because i have ideas swimming all over my head. I know this chapter is a bit long but i made it so because i don't know when next i will posting. I'm knee deep in midterm season right now.**

 **I thought since its still my birthday season that you guys might enjoy some spoilers from future CHAPTERS**

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 _ **"...Charlie get your hands off me..."**_

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 _ **"keep talking i dare you" Riley could see the murderous look in his eye but she had to hold it together. All she could think of was getting him out of here**_

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 _ **"I'm trying to take the high road, but now he is just being vindictive coming after the company" Riley said as tears came down her cheeks**_

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 _ **"you have to pick one of them and set the other one free. I was with Lucas the last time you guys broke up, Riley he almost died. If you want to be with him thats fine but make sure this what you want before you make any move" Josh said**_

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 ** _Topanga got up from the desk and looked him straight in the eyes to show him she wasn't playing his childish games "I will give you this advice based on courtesy that you grew up with my children" by her children she was referring to Riley, Josh, Lucas, Maya, Farkle, Smackle, Zay and Vanessa "if you so much as look at my baby girl the wrong way ever again, I will come after you and make no mistake I will bury you"_**

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 **Lucas was getting heavily frustrated with this woman and her sick games " _Missy I need you to listen and listen good, I am in Love with Riley, there i said it. There is no where in this were you and I end up together. Am i making sense"_**

 ** _"If I can't have you, that slut sure as hell isn't getting you either"_**

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 **" _This isn't mine"_**

 ** _Lucas looked at her very confused then his eyes landed on the items she threw on the bed_** ** _"I don't know what you are talking about Riley what is this"_**

 ** _"I SAID THIS ISN'T MINE!" Riley screamed_**

 **Yikes, wonder what all that was about. Please follow, favourite and leave a review, I really want to know if you guys are enjoying the story so far**


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

 **Last Time on Home is where the heart is**

 _Text Messages_

 _Nate_

 _Hey babe, sorry I know it's late but I want to see you I'm almost at your building right now. see you soon_

 _Her eyes went wide seeing the text and now comprehending what was going on, all her friends had gone home; It was almost two in the morning; Nathan was coming to see her and she was in Lucas' place. She got up instantly as her brain finally processed everything_

 _"I have to go"_

 _"What? Why?" he got up following behind her, he hoped they would fall asleep together in the living room_

 _"I don't leave here, and my…" the next word was so heavy for her to say, she felt her heart become heavy just by the thought of saying it to him "…boyfriend is on his way up to see me and its pretty late"_

 _He held on to her wrist because quite frankly he felt like if he let go, she would leave, go back to her boyfriend and forget all about him "I wish you didn't have to go, it felt really good to talk to you again" his emotions were made abundantly clear with every word he said_

 _"same here, I could come tomorrow, probably have dinner if you want" she didn't want to leave at all, physically her legs were moving towards the door but her heart was definitely still in the house she stood in_

 _"I'd love that" he reluctantly let go for her wrist for a millisecond when she turned to leave. He caught the arm again and pulled her in, to do the one thing he had been dying to do all night, hell since he caught her in the elevator, he kissed her._

For a split second Riley's breath got caught in her throat from shock when his lips touched hers, but after the shock wore off and Lucas didn't pull away it felt like her brain switched to autopilot mode because she melted right into the kiss so easily  
as their lips created a sync of their own. A lot of happy memories of kissing him when she was a giddy teenager seemed to play endlessly in her head, the electrifying out of body experience of total bliss overcame her in that moment as she felt every  
bit of his soft lips on hers. The damn butterflies in her stomach erupted again when he pulled her by the waist moving her even closer to his frame.

It was almost like the past fifteen plus years never happened and she was always where she supposed to be, which was right here in his arms as her own roam freely combing his dirty blonde hair. He deepened the kiss as he slipped his tongue into her mouth  
making it so much more passionate; she couldn't bring herself to reject him at the point, there was so much need and hunger that she couldn't even begin to explain. Lucas on the other hand felt like he was on cloud nine, he had pictured this moment,  
dreamt of it more times than he would admit, but being here, holding her, kissing her and having her kiss him back, no dream in the world could compare. He felt the chills in his spine grow the more he held her and he just hoped to the heavens and  
host of angels that she felt just as incredible as he did.

Before either of them could go any further Riley's, phone went off again pulling them back to earth, both breathing heavily from lack of oxygen. As Riley pulled away her sense of rational thinking reared its ugly head making her realize what she had just  
done. _Lucas kissed me and I didn't stop him instead I kissed him back and I fucking loved it_. Her eyes went wild and glossy with tears as the realization hit her hard _I'm a cheater_. She slowly backed away from him because more than  
anything she wanted to kiss him again, her heart wanted to so bad but her head kept reminding her that this wasn't the kind of person she was, she didn't cheat on people, she never hurts people so why the hell does some part of her want more than  
anything in the world to run back into his arms, why does Lucas still have this hold on her? He dumped her after all. As she continues to back away, he's hot on her trail till her back was against the wall

"Riley, please" his voice was shaky and pleading, he is right in front of her face, her heart pounding so fast and so loud she swears he can hear it

She couldn't hold her tears as she continued to fight the battle of what's right in her head "no Luc, this isn't fair" with the last bit of will power she had she managed to get out of his grasp "this isn't fair to me…y-you don't get to do this…" she  
sobbed "y-you don't get to make me feel things anymore…you broke up with me!"

"And I've regretted it every day since that night at the park, Riles I'm so sorry I hurt you, I never meant for any of it to happen the way it did"

"How the fuck did you expect that night to play out" she screamed in frustration, she could see hurt in his eyes and all she wanted to do was make it all go away because she realized she was hurting seeing him this way but she was still so mad at him

"something big happened to us; we weren't dealing with properly as individuals and it was killing us as couple and if we didn't take a break we could have ended up hating each other. I just" he let out shaky breaths "I couldn't let that happen Riles,  
I couldn't let you hate me. Had I known you were going to take off on a damn boat and I was never going to see or talk to you for fifteen years, I would have never done what I did that night"

How could he think she could ever hate him, yes she did get mad and furious at him that time but _hate him?_ Never, she couldn't even if she tried. Before her sense of endearment towards him took over she shook out of it as the hurtful memories that  
plagued her for years started to bubble up

"I lost a child Lucas, our child, and the next thing you do is make friends with a girl who tormented me, you witnessed what it did to me, so I've always wondered what kind of a resolution you were planning to achieve and then YOU DUMP ME. Who does that"

Lucas felt like his world was crashing down on him, he never knew his friendship with Missy hurt her so much. It began to click for him, all the stand-off attitude she had towards him that he never understood, it all made sense now and he couldn't feel  
more awful about it. He never meant to hurt her at all. Missy was just there to talk to when Riley wouldn't give him the time of day. He felt like the biggest jerk in the world right now

"I am so sorry Riley, I never meant to hurt you, please you have to believe me, Missy just listened to me that was it, I was frustrated and she listened that was it I swear, you've had my heart from day one and even after all these years I can honestly  
say you still have it Riles please"

"you know what no, never mind…." She shook her index finger at him as her resolve fully kicked in "I'm with Nate now, I don't want to hurt him, he loves me"

"but do you love him?" Deep down the answer scared the living day light out of him, what if she actually loved him, what would he do then.

She wanted to say yes but in this moment with Lucas right in front of her, those beautiful emerald eyes boring a hole into her soul, reminding her of all the reasons she fell in love with him in the first place, her mouth couldn't form any words. It was  
a one word answer, three letters; y-e-s and she was home free. she had said 'I love you' to Nathan many times before, hell she meant them at the time, but for some reason her head and heart picked this very second to work together in stopping her  
from replying this question. _but do you love him, don't you_? Lucas released a sigh of relief when she didn't say anything

"I'm just going to take this silence as my answer, I never stopped loving you Riles, it's been fifteen years and here we are and you can't tell me you didn't feel anything from that kiss so please Riley Grace Matthews, please don't go" His stare on her  
was intense as the look of desperation overtook him, this was his last desperate attempt to tell her he wanted her back and he hoped to God she wanted him as well. He took her hands in his because he could see she was shaking with tears in her eyes  
where she stood but she pulled away quickly before she lost her last resolve

"I'm sorry Nate is on his way" then she finally looked at her phone to see Nathan's text

Messages

 **Nate**

 _Oh, and I have hot wings in case you're up ;-) love you babe can't wait to see you_

"I shouldn't have been here tonight; I have to go"

"you don't mean that, you kissed me back, you can't deny there's something here"

She furrowed her brows as she gazed at him like he was crazy, of course there was something here, people a hundred miles away could see there was something here and that's what scared her the most; Igniting whatever it is they have; because as everyone  
has been so quick to discard, SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND, and she couldn't let him find out about her history with Lucas

"If you still care about me as much as you say you do, you won't follow me"

"Riley!"

"LUCAS FRIAR!" her voice was stern, this got him to back down because she never used his full name with him and on that note Riley basically sprinted back to her penthouse.

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She ran into her home through the back door of her kitchen, she shot door closed and rested her back on it sliding down to the floor as she tried to control her breathing again. Seeing as she couldn't and her chest began to tighten, she knew what was  
coming next and couldn't afford to panic because she was home alone. She crawled as fast as she could to the nearest inhaler she could get her hands on. Thankfully she has a lot of them scattered all over her place for incidents like this. When she  
finally got to one she took the puffs and finally relaxed herself on a spot on the floor.

The private elevator doors dinged letting Riley know Nathan just entered her home. She is still sitting on floor with her back is against the kitchen island just focusing on getting her breathing together, simultaneously trying to get her story straight  
for her boyfriend. On his own instincts Nathan goes straight up the stairs to Riley's bedroom. When he didn't see her on her bed, he called her phone again only to hear it ringing downstairs

"Babe?"

"Nate I'm down here" Riley called from the kitchen as Nathan descended the stairs

"Riley where are you?"

"Down here in the kitchen" He turned on the lights to see her on the floor, puffy red eyes, residual tears still on her cheeks as she clutched to the inhaler for dear life

"Oh gosh Riley are you okay? Of course, you're not okay, what happened?"

"I Umm, just came down for some air and well…" she gestured to her chest "this happened" she tried her best to put on her fakest smile, she knew Nathan had no idea when she faked them so she banked on using it to her advantage "don't worry about it, I'll  
be fine I've got this. Let's go to bed"

"like hell you not, you're not mounting any stairs this night, I'll put you in the guest bedroom down here, common I got you" he helped her up and carried her bridal style to the bed in the guestroom.

"Thanks Nate, I wish we could still have the hot wings though"

"don't worry I'll heat it up for you tomorrow" he kissed the top of her head as he tucked her in. He turned to go crash on the couch because he already knew she was going to push him away and it hurt too much as of late

"Hey where are you going" she called out to him as he was about to leave

"I was just um…going to crash on the couch" he kept his hand behind his neck as he spoke

"why? Since when did that start happening"

"I don't know since you won't let me touch you anymore" he sounded defeated and it only made Riley feel worse about the whole situation

"Nate"

"Am I wrong" he said with raised brows "I get it; you want your space I can take a hint"

"No Nate please come" she opened the duvet for him to come in. He didn't think twice about taking the offer as he jumped in the bed and pulled her as close to him as she could get "I'm so sorry you've been feeling neglected; I'm just dealing with a lot  
right now"

"Babe then talk to me about it, that's kinda the point of having me; you know, me being there for you when you need help. If it's about work, you know you can take a break, right? The trip to Hawaii still stands"

"I know that and my work gets to me sometimes but I'll figure it out okay, some days are worse than others you just happened to catch me on one of those days, but I always pull through don't worry about it"

He pecked her forehead "okay, but you come to me the minute you can't take it anymore and I'll have a private jet ready"

"How about this instead, my high school reunion is in a couple weeks and I wanted to ask if you would accompany me as my date"

"I'd be honoured"

They had light hearted conversations till they both fell asleep

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Riley invited the girls over to her office so they could all go for lunch; it was her opportunity to catch up with the girls and then they were all going to go dress shopping for the reunion.

"so what's everyone craving Chinese? Sandwiches? Italian" Riley asked

"hmm" Smackle pondered the menu on Riley's table "sandwiches, it's not too heavy cause I still have to get back to work"

"No!" Maya pouted "I want something heavy, I'm starving"

"How about we go to Zay's instead, he serves light and heavy" Darby suggested

"NO!" Riley screamed, it had been weeks since her kiss with Lucas and she hadn't told the anyone about it and the fact that none of the ladies were hounding her about it means Lucas hadn't told Zay ergo no one knew about it yet. Chances are the guys were  
having lunch at Zay's restaurant, since she was actively avoiding the vet she wasn't going to risk running into him for the first time since that night in front of her friends that have no boundaries.

"Woah, riles" Vanessa furrowed her brows at her chief bride's maid "what's wrong with going to Zay's restaurant?"

"Um nothing, nothing's wrong with Zay's, I was just thinking you know if we go there then we'd have to wait to get a table, there's just no time"

"oh honey don't worry about that I play the fiancée card all the time, I'll get us a table, in no time" she linked her hands with Riley's and they left to Zay's restaurant

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"Hey buddy" Zay said as walked into Lucas' office. Zay had noticed that Lucas had been a little closed off for a while so he came over to check up on his friend

"Hey man what's up, you didn't tell me you were coming and you brought food YES!"

"Like I need to an invitation to check on my best friend who's been distant" he took a sit across Lucas' desk and dropped the bag of food he brought from work

"what? I have no idea what you're talking about" Lucas tried to feign ignorance

"oh common Lucas don't play dumb with me I've known you since we were in diapers, you've been very short with all of us for the past few weeks, did something happen" and that's when Lucas flinched uncomfortably in his seat. He had distanced himself from  
the group as a coping mechanism from the bittersweet night with Riley. Sweet in the sense that he confirmed she still had feelings for him and bitter in the sense she that she is fighting herself off him literally and it hurt him too much to be around  
his best friends who were constant reminders of her.

"so something did happen"

"N-nothing hap-pen" he said in the least convincing voice even him had ever heard

"and that Mr. freak face is how I know something definitely happened. You fumble when you lie so what happened, is it your mum? Did she call to set you up with Missy again" Lucas rolled his eyes, how he wished that was his problem right now

"okay so it's not your mum" Zay kept guessing "it's not work because your dad isn't here trying to fix things so…" then he realization hit him "its Riley!" Lucas flinched again "it's her isn't it, something happened between you two"

"Isaiah Babineaux just let it go" Lucas warned, he felt like he was about to relive one of the worst nights he's had in a long time

"Ho ho dude" Zay chuckled "you already know that's not happening I love a good Riley and Lucas story so start spilling cause you know I'm gonna pry it outta ya one way or the other"

"Fine something happened between Riley and me…"

"Riley and I" Zay corrected out of habit

"who gives a fuck, do you want to know what happened or do want a grammar lesson"

"sorry proceed"

"We talked all night, we reconnected in our own way, almost like no time had passed you know" Lucas sort of drifted into space remembering the glorious moments he shared with her before the finale of that night "we caught up on everything basically, what  
we've been up to all these years…"

"aaand" Zay was getting impatient, he knew something big was coming and his best friend was just trying to drag it out

"aaand we kissed or should I say I kissed her and she kissed me back" he was really flustered explaining it "I don't know but the gist of it is a kiss happened"

Zay grinned like a kid in a candy store "and that's the good Riley and Lucas story I was waiting for. So, what happened next, are you guys like getting back together or something"

"no far from it actually. she left"

"what?" the puzzlement could not be more evident on Zay's face

"what, we kissed, said some things and she left"

"details Lucas details, what did you say to her"

"It's was nothing really, I found out how she feels about me and I'm just reminded how much I fucked up my relationship with her, I never should have broken up with Riley"

Zay's eyes grew ten times wider if that was even possible "wait a minute so you broke up with her Lucas you idiot!"

"Really? Right now, that's your major concern"

"I'm sorry it's just your breakup with Riley has been like a Bermuda triangle type of mystery in our group for years, who broke up with who? What led to it? You know it's been a nail biter, oh shit I owe Maya 50 bucks"

"you guys bet on it"

"sorry bro, it drove us crazy trying to figure it out, I never thought you'd actually be that stupid to give up someone as amazing as Riley"

"Yeah thanks Zay, you're being super helpful here"

"sorry bro my bad. So, what happens now, you can't avoid her and us forever"

"I don't know man, Riles and I definitely still have something but I never knew just how much I hurt her until that night and right now I don't even think I deserve another chance with her after everything that happened"

"Now that's where you're wrong. Lucas you were young and clearly stupid like seriously mind numbingly dumb…" Lucas cut him off before he could continue telling him what he already knew

"is there a point coming anytime soon"

"yea sorry kinda lost it there, I mean you were young, years have gone by and the 'universe' has brought you guys right back to each other, to have that night and clearly from what I've heard the spark is still there. If you think she's the one for you  
don't give up on her, don't talk yourself out of being happy because lord knows you two are one of the best people I know and you one hundred percent deserve to be happy with each other, so my point is if she's the one Lucas fight for her"

the words hit Lucas to his core _if she's the one Lucas fight for her_ "when did you get smart" Lucas said while Zay's smug expression grew

"when you look this good" Zay gestured to his face "your message is kinda hard to get across I'm just glad you are more open to doing this"

"seeing her, talking to her, I don't man it just changed everything for me" Lucas started to drift off again thinking about what his life would be like to have Riley back

"hey" Zay snapped his finger in Lucas' face "so what's your plan"

Lucas spun around in his swivel chair "It'ssimple actually. I win her back"

 **A/N**

 **Thanks for reading please like, follow and i cannot stress this enough LEAVE A REVIEW. I really want to know what you guys think, pm me your prompts or basically what you want to happen in this story, i really want to know if you guys are enjoying the story so far. xoxo**


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Okay wings?"

"check"

"wine?"

"check"

"chocolate and sweets"

"check"

"TV?"

"check"

Riley finished checking off the list of things she needed for her girls' night with Erica via Facetime. It had been a while since she went down to the island to see Erica and the twins and she didn't know when next she would get free time from work. So, she and Erica made it a tradition to have a night like this where they would spend time together all night in pyjamas, eating junk food and watching WWE pay-per-view.

"Okay 10 bucks says Sasha beats Charlotte" Riley said as she starts to go in on the wings

"You're on Matthews, Charlotte's gonna wipe the floor with her poor excuse for pink hair" Erica fired back

"Okay I draw the line on Sasha's hair you can't argue the fact that Sasha banks has the best hair in the entire women's division"

"oh please you only like it because she looks like some kind of Disney fairy princess"

Riley hands went to her chest as if she had just been insulted "for shame Erica for shame using my love for Disney against me" both girls start laughing, they missed this banter between them. Riley wished she could fly down this minute even if it was just for a week, she felt like she had missed so many moments with the twins. Even if she wasn't their bio mom it didn't hurt any less

"I missed this. I wish you could be here" Erica said as she stared at the friend that gave her the last shred of hope in life after losing her husband

"Me too, how are Riley and Teddy"

Erica let out a sweet chuckle like sigh just thinking about them "they are doing great Ri, Ted had an A on a test while Riles got a B+ and Ted won't let his sister hear the end of it"

"someone's being a smart ass"

"Yea I think he's just excited to have surpassed Riley Anderson _the great_! you know that's what she's calling herself now"

"she reminds me of someone I grew up with, still 70% sure he's a robot" Riley laughs at the inside joke

"By the way I still can't believe you chopped up off your hair Ri, don't get me wrong, you're rocking the short hair look but I just never thought you'd actually cut off your long locks"

Riley giggled and ran her hands through her now short hair "It was a spur of the moment thing when i got to Vancouver, I wanted something new at the time so, I figured new city might as well try a new look you know. I don't regret it at all. Like you said I do pull it off."

"That you do"

"But I think my best friend is still pissed at me over it" Riley looked genuinely upset and it caused Erica to raise her brows at Riley like it's the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard

"So what if she's pissed. You did it for you and not her, I've always told you take chances in life because it's something you want, if it makes you happy that's what matters. And if later down the line you find out you made a mistake, that's your call and your mistake to learn from not Maya's do you hear me or do need me to bring in my Riley Anderson _the great_ to explain it to you"

"Loud and clear" Riley laughed, she could feel her eyes getting wet from tears. She loved Maya more than anything in the world but sometimes she couldn't help but feel like she always had to seek approval from the blonde, it was okay when she was in middle school and thought wearing lip gloss made you a rebel but there was something twisted about Maya keeping up with the habit as adults and for some reason she never never opposed it. So, hearing Erica tell her to live her life the way she pleased with so much conviction was such a breath of fresh air

"what?" Erica asked a little puzzled

"It's nothing. Erica, I just need advice" Riley said as she took downed her glass of mimosa

"Uh-oh I know that tone. That's boy trouble tone. Tell me what's going on"

"so you know I'm with Nathan, right?"

"yeah, did he cheat, he cheated didn't he I swear I'll kill him myself…" Riley cut her off before she could continue her rant, riley couldn't help but see so much similarities between Maya and Erica it was uncanny. Same blond hair, same blue eyes same fiery personalities and such small body statues.

"No nothing like that he's actually really sweet and kind and just amazing which makes this so much worse"

If she was confused before Erica was even more thrown now "so what's the problem"

"Lucas is back"

"Uh-oh the green eyes?" Erica asked

"the beautiful green eyes" Riley sighed as she tried to pay a little of her attention to the wrestling match her ten bucks was still on the line

"I thought he lived in Texas, did he move"

"He's expanding his business in New York and not just that my friends made sure I bought the condo right next to his"

"wait so you are telling me that 'the green eyes', Lucas Friar, the one who got away, Lucas Friar, the man that you never got over since you were eighteen years old is right next door as we speak?"

"yeah" Riley hung her head in shame, she had admitted her feeling for Lucas to Erica over the years and she had also mentioned the effects the breakup had on her so Erica was well aware of the heap of potential trouble this could mean for Riley

"Woah ok, have you spoken to him at all because I don't see the problem" then it clicked for her "unless something happened, Ri? What did you do?"

Riley couldn't sink any lower into the couch, her kiss with Lucas has been tearing her apart on the inside since it happened. She hadn't been more torn about anything this bad in her life. For one she felt horrible about it for Nathan's sake, technically she wasn't lying to him but not telling him was just as worse but then she couldn't bring herself to regret the kiss because she wanted, no craved for it just as much as Lucas.

"We kissed, I know it was wrong of me to let it happen but… oh my God" Riley couldn't help the smile that crept to her lips and all the inside tingles she felt as she thought of it and it did not go unnoticed by Erica

"Riley, you liked it and you want it to happen again" Erica said with a sense of realization

"I know I'm evil, the worst to walk the earth, it's only a matter of time before Nathan finds out"

"Okay don't get all dramatic, I'm not going to fault you for having feelings but I do think you have to come clean with Nathan and hope he forgives you, with all the stories you've told me about your friends one of them is bound to find out soon and…" just as she is about to continue they hear someone knocking on Riley's door.

"Hold on I think someone's at the door, which is weird because I wasn't expecting anyone"

"Go check it out I'll be here in case I need to call 911"

"now who's being dramatic" Riley starts making her way to the door, phone in hand

"hey you're the one living alone in New York City" Riley looked through the peep hole and froze when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

"Erica he's here!" Riley whispered as she began to panic "what do I do, what do I do, oh god I can't feel my legs"

"Come down Ri breath, you are two seconds from coming face to face with Lucas and he can't see you all agitated like this so get your shit together and open the door"

She slowly opened the door and could have sworn her heart skipped a beat once she came face to face with him.

"hey"

"hi"

"wow" Erica's eyes widen from the view she was getting from Riley's phone "Ri you're right he's really hot. I change my mind DUMP NATHAN!"

"ERICA! I'll call you back" Riley left blood speeding to her cheeks while Lucas went from confused to amused when he caught sight of Riley's friend on the phone. He couldn't wipe the smirk on his face even if he tried. There was an awkward silence between them, as they stood looking each other in the eyes, both not knowing were to even begin the conversation.

"Um…ok" Lucas scratched the back of his neck nervously as he tried to complete his mission. He had rehearsed what he was going to say for the past few weeks but at this second his brain was failing to recall anything, all he could think of as he watched her was how cute she looked in her unicorn covered onesie "sorry um I come bearing gifts" Riley breath caught in her throat as lips parted, she just noticed the box of doughnuts in his hands. To anybody it would be weird that she'll have such a reaction to a box of doughnuts but to Riley and Lucas it was kind of a big deal to them. Nobody knew this but back when they were together and they had a fight (before the blow outs in their final year of high school), he'd always bring doughnuts to her so they could make up even if she was the one at fault, he didn't care. No matter how mad he was about whatever it is they were fighting about, he always had the box the very next day.

"Luc…I" she was lost for words

"no let me. I'm so sorry Riles about what happened, and the position I put you in, it was just awful of me to do that. I can't go back and undo what I did but I'm here with this" he waved the box "hoping we can start over and be friends"

"w-what?" Riley looked really perplexed

"Please Riles just hear me out. Before what happened happened, I really loved talking to you again and just being around you, I know it might sound crazy to someone else but it's you and me Riles and you know that means everything when it comes to us plus I really do miss my best friend, don't tell Zay" Riley chuckled in amusement for a second then she felt her heart sink a little after her head recollected what she just heard, she felt like she was reliving that horrible night almost sixteen years ago _he wants to undo what he did and wanted to be just friends, had he given up on them again? Oh God its happening again..._

 **A/N**

 **Happy Holidays loves**

 **What do you guys think of Erica and do you want see more of her later on.**

 **Before I sign out I wanted to confess something. I've been cheating on Rucas with a new ship (well not really new i'm just late to the party). I just finished binge watching suits and i can't get over darvey (harvey and donna) like can they just get together already GOD DAMN IT ;-) I literally screamed in the last finale when Donna grabbed Harvey's hand lol my roommate thinks i'm crazy she just doesn't get it. Anyway thats why this chapter is much shorter than what i usually write and also why it took me so long to get it out for you guys.**

 **Thanks for reading please please please don't be a stranger let me know what you think of the story and probably Darvey i don't mind and follow and favorite**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

 **A/N**

 **PLEASE DON'T SKIP I'M BEGGING!**

 **Okay so I know I'm the worst at updating. I just left you guys high and dry for months but I had an extremely difficult time writing this chapter. I have like five versions of it and I'm still not satisfied that's why I held out for so long. Anyway to make up for the wait I'm doing a DOUBLE UPDATE and I promise some drama to come**

 _Breathe, Riley you can do this, what do those damn words say again oh yeah, you are stronger than you seem; and braver than you believe…_

"Riles, riles…are you okay? RILEY GRACE!" Lucas snapped

"what?" Riley came back from her little mind spiral as she stood, staring at him still lost for words. what was she supposed to say to him, why was she freaking out like this? did she want to be just friends? Could she be just friends with him? would that be such a bad thing? He remained friends with all the people she held dear to her heart so why should he be an exception

"so, what do you say Riley Grace, friends again?"

 _it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world now would now it._ "Yeah I'd like that very much"

"would it be okay if I hang out with you for a while, it will be a shame not to share the sprinkled covered doughnut with someone"

"Yea sure come in, but you've clearly lost your mind if you think you're coming close to my sprinkles"

"I had to try" he sniggered.

She led him to the living room where she had totally forgot about the huge mess she made on the coffee table from girl's night

"whoa someone's having a party, Riley how much sweets are you consuming, speaking as a doctor this cannot be healthy" he said as he gazed amused at the amount of candy on the coffee table

"This" she gestured to table as she jumped on the couch "is your ticket to stay here, I was having a little fun night with a friend, so if you wish to join then…" she picked up the bowl filled with maltesers "we are eating unhealthy together, your move cowboy"

She knew how much he loved chocolates, no matter how big, healthy and husky he looked now, she could tell the way his eyes lit up he couldn't say no if he tried

"ok fine" like he wasn't going to enjoy it. "but if we're gonna eat all of this you have to join me in the gym to burn it off the sugar?"

"deal" they shook hands and started eating "also, if I remember correctly, you were more into whiskey than wine" Riley offered from her mini-bar

"actually, I don't drink anymore"

"what?" the surprise on Riley's face could not be more evident "why? I mean I respect your decision but did something happen?"

"I realised I don't make the best choices under the influence" Lucas replied nervously

"I get that but there has to be a story that got you to go all dried turkey"

"there is but, I don't really want to dig open that Pandora's box tonight"

"I get it, you can tell me when you're ready"

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

"DIE! ZOMBIES DIES!" Riley screamed at her TV while Lucas looked on with the most amused look on his face as he gazed at her with so much adoration (which Riley was too oblivious to due to her game mode)

"Ha! I win all hail Princess Riley!" she said while dropping the controller on floor throwing her hands in victory as she won the round

"you got lucky there Matthews"

"call it what you want but I'm the one with Excalibur"

"I got held back and you know it"

"spoken like a true loser" Riley teased

"Loser? Riles we were playing on the same team" Lucas wined

Riley finally settled down "sorry, I see the Topanga in me keeps popping out"

"that's not necessarily a bad thing, your mom's a bad ass"

Their night started from finishing the wrestling match to killing zombies. Riley felt so much lighter as the night progressed, as much as she felt bad for cheating on Nathan she couldn't deny she missed Lucas both as a friend and probably even more (well most definitely more) so, she was just going to work on keeping him physically at a distance to avoid any funny business from happening again. As they fell easily into conversation, she grew more confident in her decision to let Lucas back into her life; they talked about everything no matter how random it was; they even played a game where she got to throw skittles into his mouth, he did pretty well catching them. Riley got to hear more Lucas and Zay stories. At some point in the even he made her laugh so hard she fell off the couch.

"I can't believe it was you who broke the handles at Topanga's all those years ago, it almost caused world war III between my parents trying to figure it out, dad thinks it was a ghost while mum was a bit more practical"

Lucas couldn't help but laugh "are u kidding me I thought everyone knew, I literally brought one of the handles back to your room that afternoon"

"I guess I never noticed it with all the crap going on at the time, gosh it felt like forever ago. You know my mum later had someone track down the bully"

"really? Who was it? And why didn't any of us hear about this"

"I'm sorry it was just, when my mom finally got the name I was over the whole situation. We had all moved past it, why dig up old issues. Oh, and it was the one and only Missy Bradford"

Lucas' heart slammed against his chest as the colour drained from his face, he felt a million times smaller talking about Missy with Riley. He technically wasn't lying to her just avoiding details. There was so much he should be telling her, stuff that Riley needed to know about him if their new _friendship_ was going to lead into something else, stuff that even Zay knew nothing about, somewhere along the line Josh found out and he couldn't be more grateful that he had agreed to keep things quiet.

But as he sat there with Riley he couldn't bring himself to say anything to her, he _just_ got her back but, not in the way he would have preferred and he still had this crippling fear that Riley will come to her senses and kick him out and he just couldn't let that happen, he didn't know if he could survive losing her again. That feeling that lit his insides up like a Christmas tree, that feeling of warmth, peace, content and just utter happiness that he hadn't felt in nearly 16 years had just come back to his life, but he was going to have to suppress all those feelings right now, maybe the whole friendship thing wasn't a bad idea after all, things wouldn't be complicated, she won't be as mad if she found out while they were still in this weird friend zone, right? He just needed time to get out of the mess he got himself into

"let's just say her parents got an ear full from the Topanga Matthews"

"are you going to the reunion?" Lucas asked to get the topic off Missy

"I was but I don't think so anymore, I was supposed to go with Nate but he's not going to be able to make it anymore, he's been out of town for a while now doing work stuff and I don't want to go alone"

"you don't have to, I could take you" Lucas had initially planned to blow it of just so to avoid any instance where he could run into Missy in front of his friends but seeing as this was an opportunity to spend more time with Riley, he wasn't going to pass it up. Which was monumentally stupid on his end considering…well you'll find out later

"Luc, I don't know…" riley could feel her resolve building up. From the moment she snapped out of her little spiral at the door, seeing as she almost just about went crazy pondering the idea of kissing and getting back together with him, she decided, at some point over the course of the night that a friendship was all she could handle with him right now and with the way the night played out she was at peace with the decision. Anything more than that will only lead to someone getting hurt.

"No, I meant I could take you as my friend, come on Riles it would be fun I promise"

"okay but… we do have to make ground rules"

"fine I wouldn't get you a corsage or anything like that" he joked

she giggled as well "It's a reunion not prom, but I wasn't just talking about the reunion, I'm talking about this" she waved her hands between them "us, we have to make ground rules if our friendship is going to work"

"ok miss Matthews watcha got"

"you can't flirt with me"

"boo" Lucas gave a thumbs down _like that's gonna happen_

she threw the couch pillows at him and giggled at the silly faces he was making "Luc I'm serious, we can't deny the fact that we have history, but for any kind of friendship to exist between us that part of our lives can't be an issue anymore"

"I get that, I completely understand"

"plus, things are different now we are different from who we use to be and I feel like we need to get to know these new people all over again. does that make any sense"

"I get it but I'll tell you something though I'm still me Riley Grace and I know you've had all these amazing experiences and that might have changed you from who you use to be but I'm still me Lucas the huckleberry and I'll respect your wishes and Nathan as long as I get my friend back"

"deal"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

 **A/N**

 **HEADS UP! Lots of cursing towards the end of the chapter**

For weeks leading up to the reunion Lucas and Riley got even closer. Nathan had barley stepped foot in the US for said weeks due to business but Riley understood because she, herself, travels just as much if not more when she and Farkle would have to launch new tech.

Lucas spends evenings watching movies and eating dinners at her place, and even go out on the town together just the two of them. Somehow both had done a good job at keeping the obvious spark between at bay and just went with the flow of things for friendship sake. Riley would admit she loved having him back in her life, it was like a light that had been missing in her life came back and everyone around her noticed. She smiled more, true honest genuine smile that reached her eyes and her friends couldn't be happier for her. It made her wonder if she was doing the right thing by keeping Nathan around when she felt something much stronger for someone else. Actually, she felt sick to her stomach about the whole thing but she couldn't bring herself to voice it out for fear of losing both men.

The reunion night finally arrived, Nathan was out on business and as Lucas offered, he was taking Riley _as friends_. As Riley got ready that evening she couldn't help but feel a bowl of nerves in her tummy. Yes, she was excited about seeing her old class mates again but the idea of going with Lucas in this their weird friendship stage, with all the judging eyes of their classmates she just hoped for a peaceful fun evening with her friends. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, her short brown hair (which had grown significantly since she got back to New York) was curled to form waves, giving her chick rock star look. She adjusted her black bodycon dress that hugged her curves perfectly. This was one of the few times she was glad she listened to Maya about a dress, because as, she stared at her reflection she loved what she saw though, still she was a bit nervous for some reason about tonight.

As she descended the stairs to a waiting Lucas in her living room, she felt butterflies just thinking of the reaction she would get from him. Was he going to like her outfit? Was she overdressed? Was it too late to go and change? Before she could even make the decision, Lucas was already ogling, with his mouth agape, that was all the answer she needed.

"you look gorgeous Riles"

"thanks, you cleaned up quite nicely too" she said as she adjusted his tie

For an outsider looking in, they looked like the picture-perfect couple, somewhere deep inside Riley, she wished more than anything it were so, that she could hold his hand as they walked back into their high school, that she could introduce herself as his wife and tell stories about their kids all night long but sadly it wasn't so, she had somehow convinced herself (her rational thinking self) to be content with being his friend for the sake of having him in her life. If only she knew her life was about to take a drastic turn in just a few hours.

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

As Riley and Lucas walked through the halls of Abigail Adams high, Riley felt the biggest sense of Déjà vu; all night she had this weird feeling that people had been staring at her and whispering, she thought she was being paranoid until she excused herself from her group of friends to use the washroom.

As she got into one of the stalls, two maybe three women entered the bathroom deep in conversation. Riley didn't think anything about it until she heard one of the ladies mention her name

"no fucking way, really? Riley Matthews? She doesn't seem like the type" said one of the women

"I kid you not, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. she's been prancing around with someone else's husband"

"I guess having all the money in the world isn't enough to get her a man of her own" Riley heard another voice say

"wow, I'm shocked I always thought she was a decent person, she tutored me all through the 11th grade, she seemed like such a nice girl back then"

"oh, come off it, none of us are the same as we use to be in high school, life causes shit to happen, it changes even the best people"

the rest of their conversation was a blur to Riley as she pondered what she just heard, Nathan wasn't married, she'd gone to great lengths (even hiring a private investigator) to find out every piece of skeleton he had in his past and he came out squeaky clean so, what the hell were these women talking about Riley wondered.

As came out of the stall once she heard the ladies leave, she washed her hands and gazed at her reflection, her eyes were already getting watery but she shook it off

 _you are stronger than you seem; and braver than you believe…_ Riley repeated this in head over and over again to keep the tears away _why should I be upset over rumours, they are all lies, I owe no one no explanations, I have never been with a married man. Riley, you know you are good and decent person, the people who love you know this to be true so to hell with these women I'll probably never know or see ever again_ She nodded her head once more for affirmation as the anger she was feeling dissolved to nothing, wiped the few tears that managed to escape and exited the bathroom.

As she walked back into the hall way she was ambushed by the absolute last person she wanted to see after the conversation she just overheard

"could tonight get any worse!" Riley said loudly in annoyance as she tried to keep walking

"missed you too baby, you know you can't run from me forever, New York isn't big enough for you to hide from me"

"get away from me Charlie" she kept walking

"oh, come on baby, you can't still be mad at me, we could work it out"

"it's been over a year, take the hint I'm not interested!"

"you know I love it when you play these games with me" he grabbed her arm and pulled her hard so her back was up against the locker"

"what the fuck Charlie get your hands off me or I swear to god…"

"tell me you don't miss it" he said as he pressed himself up against her

"GET OFF!" she screamed but before she could struggle, she felt a small wind sensation and Charlie's weight seem to have disappeared. Next thing she saw was Charlie on the floor and Lucas standing over him

"Riley, are you okay? Did he hurt you" Lucas asked as he stared at the man struggling to get back to his feet

"No, I'm okay come lets back outside" Riley could see the look on Lucas' face, she knew the signs all too well Texas Lucas was very much in their midst and she could tell this wasn't going to end well for anybody

"No, you go ahead I'll meet you outside"

"Oh, look it's the Texas nut job, I see you still haven't gotten your brain checked out yet, what did the alcohol stop working?" Lucas grabbed him by the suit and slammed against him against the lockers

"keep talking I dare you" Riley could see the murderous look in Lucas' eyes but she had to hold it together. All she could think of was getting him out of here

"Lucas please let him go, he's not worth it" Riley tried to pry his hand off Charlie but he wouldn't budge

what was weird to Riley was the smirk that had not disappeared from Charlie's face, it was almost like he thought Lucas's couldn't do anything to him which again was strange because she knew for a fact Lucas could crush him at will.

"Riles please go back to the others I'll meet you outside" Lucas said in a low calm tone, too calm for Riley's liking

"Lucas, I can't…"

"RILEY GRACE PLEASE!"

"Fine" Riley didn't utter another word she just sauntered off, her face void of emotions

Lucas pulled and smashed Charlie on the lockers once again like a rag doll "Look at me" he grabbed Charlie's face with one hand squeezing hard till Charlie's mouth hung open all the while Charlie struggling pointlessly to break free from were Lucas had held him down with his other hand. "Look at me! can you see this face, you don't want this face. So, I'm going to need you to listen to me very carefully Gardner, because I'll say this once . . , you touch her again, you lose your arm. You so much as look at her the wrong way again, you get a black eye. Do we have an understanding" Lucas finally let go of Charlie and he fell to the floor

"why should this concern you, not with…" Then Charlie did a double take on the expression on Lucas' face; he had the expression of anger slowly fussing into one with a deer caught in head lights "oh my god she doesn't know, does she?"

"watch it Gardner" Lucas fired back as he suspected Charlie knew something

"she doesn't know, you didn't tell her" Charlie felt like Christmas had come early for him "my oh my, could it be the couple who values 'communication' above all else has secrets between themselves oh my, Lucas, you handsome dummy"

Lucas grabbed him and shoved him into the wall once more "I will put you through this wall Charlie don't tempt me"

"no, you won't or else I would go singing like a canary to her" Charlie taunted and Lucas put him down "you know she's never going to forgive you right? When she finds out? She's never going to see past it. This night just keeps getting better for me. The nut job from Texas is FINALLY out of the picture and Riley can FINALLY come back to me where she rightfully belongs with no fucking strings holding her back"

"Charlie, I am warning you" Lucas said slowly this time. His anger was boiling to the surface he had been holding back this whole time for Riley's sake but Charlie was going out of his way to push him over the edge

"or what, face it Friar, Riley would be sucking me out in..."

Bang

Lights out

Lucas punched Charlie so hard square in the face that he passed out

"suck on that" Lucas said before he set off to go find Riley

 **GMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMWGMW**

Lucas made his way back to the tent on the football field were the reunion was being held. He managed to maneuver his way through all the greetings from old friends in search for Riley. When he got back to the table full of all his friends he couldn't spot her

"Hey Maya, have you seen Riles?" Lucas asked

"Not since she went to the bathroom, why did something happen? Is she okay?"

"she's fine, she had a run in with Charlie Gardner, I asked her to come back here and now I can't find her"

"she can't have left; her purse is with me and you're her ride. That Charlie weasel what did he want"

"doesn't matter now trust me. I need to go find her"

"well you know where to find her"

Lucas roamed the school a bit agitated and scared of Riley's reaction once she sees him. It's been a long time since she had seen him like that and to make things worse he yelled at her, he just hoped she was okay and probably calm down before she sees him again.

After about ten minutes of fruitless searching, something clicked in him

 _well you know where to find her_

He almost kicked himself for wasting time. It's Riley Matthews he was searching for after all and there was one place she always went to when she was distressed. They had both been trapped in there all night twice before. When they attended Abigail Adams high, the school had a good basketball program with an incredibly huge basketball gym (almost professional size scale). Due to the amount of money that went into making it, students weren't allowed to go in expect they absolutely had to be in there. But a certain Riley Matthews made it a twisted hobby of hers to sneak in and sit on the upmost rows that were out of view if you stood on the court. It started during their first year, in the heat of the triangle phase with Lucas and Maya when she needed space from her friends during lunch or free periods. She knew if she hid in the library, it would be a dead give-away, Lucas could find her in a heartbeat, she couldn't stay in the court yard well because that isn't really hiding when it's out in the open. Then it occurred to her, basketball gym, students weren't allowed there, her friends wouldn't think to check there because for one she wasn't on any team that used the gym and she was Riley, she never broke school rules. She apparently loved the view from the very top (you'd think a basketball gym would have a sweat odour but you'll be surprised how much the school went out of their way to ensure none existed) plus she enjoyed the quietness there when the teams weren't practising. Zay busted her when he joined the school's basketball team and saw her sneaking out once. He promised not to tell anyone but knowing Zay, Lucas found out the very next day. Then when Riley and Lucas started dating, they would sneak in together for some alone time in school or to make out.

As Lucas crossed the threshold of the gym, he was hit with huge wave of nostalgia. He couldn't help but picture a young Riley Matthews pulling him into the place, the place that held the happiest moments of his life, this place where they never fought or argued in, never tainted with any horrible memory just pure love and happiness.

For a second he almost forgot the reason he had entered the gym in the first place, the lights were really dim so he had to strain his eyes, whisper yelling her name because if he was being honest the gym felt and looked creepy even haunted, now that the nice nostalgia he felt merely seconds ago seemed to have vanished. Then he spotted her, not sitting in _their_ spot, no, she sat gloom, with no expression on her face, on a random spot somewhere in the middle of the long array of bleachers.

"Riles, there you are, are you okay?"

she sighed but made no movement to get up so he climbed up to sit next to her. Then he noticed her face clearly now that he was up close.

her eyes.

her cheeks.

The lip biting.

If it were someone who wasn't close to her, they would have missed it, but she had just finished crying and her done her best to cover it up. If there was one thing Lucas had taken away from the triangle nonsense, was the ability to spot Riley's hidden sad emotions.

"I'm sorry you had to see that part of me again, I know promised you'd never see it again. I didn't mean to make you cry. It's just Charlie. I saw him…and the way he grabbed you like that…I just kinda lost it I'm really sorry"

she sighed again and then he boldly took her hand in his attempting to get some kind of emotion other than sadness out of her. He was terrified that she would pull back but then she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze almost like she could read his mind and she didn't let go either

"thanks for coming to find me Luc, not now, I mean with Charlie, only God knows what he'll have done had you not shown up. But that's not why I'm so gloomy right now"

"then what's going on" more silence "Riles please talk to me"

"I'm sorry it's just…" she exhaled through her mouth and wiped off a few more tears as she stared into space "this is insane. I'm a grown ass woman…and here I am in my old high school and…" she exhaled again pacing her breathing "I just thought that coming back here after all the crap that life has thrown at us since we left and..." she trailed on "things that should have been never was, things and people that should have changed haven't (ouch), and the one place, this place Luc…" she gestured to the gym around them "the one place in the world I thought would get better with age or at least stay the same just look at it"

she wasn't kidding, the place looked run down and unkempt, Iron rods suspended like a broken web hung loosely above their heads. These rods, that are were supposed to hold signs while strategically holding pillars which in turn held the ceiling, where tangling from their hinges (by the way, Riley thought, that the entire gym in its current state was a lawsuit waiting to happen). The benches that weren't broken had visible rust all over were paint should have been. The lights that weren't dim were twitching, litters of waste could be seen and the foul smell you would expect from a high school gym was very much present now. The last place her mind could revisit to remind her that once upon a time her past wasn't full of heart break, drama and utter devastation, the last place she had deluded herself into thinking would freeze in time holding her precious moments now looked like just another dump in New York City.

At this point her tears were freely falling because as she continued to stare at the gym "you remember the girl I use to be Luc, fresh eyed goof with too much optimism for her own good. This gym once vibrant and alive, holing so many happy memories now dead. It just feels like the perfect picture of what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life, more crap from people like Charlie, and random women in the bathroom and more heart breaks to come slowly chipping at me until I become this"

"an abandoned gymnasium?" this was almost comical to Lucas but for the sake of Riley's current emotional state he didn't laugh "come with me" he got up still holding unto her hand and marched her up the bleachers till they got to the bench right below what use to be _their_ spot

"Now I want you to close your eyes…"

"Luc what are…"

"just do it okay, I promise you'll feel loads better"

She gave in and did what she was told

"now lay down"

"LUCAS?"

"trust me in like a minute you're gonna be laughing about this"

"fine"

Lucas couldn't help but wonder why Riley wasn't seeing where this was going or had she truly forgotten. Well in a minute she'll know

"now imagine you never came in here tonight, when you thought about this spot, how did the memory of this spot make you feel?"

"happy. safe. loved. When I thought of this place it held nothing but amazing memories, best moments of my life" Riley spoke with her eyes closed picturing the day she and Lucas had been stuck in the gym all night talking, laughing and fooling around until Zay came and found them the next day.

"Luc if you're trying to make me feel sadder I'll tell you now you're succeeding"

Lucas chuckled "open your eyes"

She did and saw Lucas squatting next to her pointing at something underneath the bench above her. Right were his finger was pointing to she could see the inscription he had made sixteen plus years ago

 _Feelings that come back are feelings that never left_

 _As long as we have each other, the moments shared here would last in us forever_

 _\- L+R Friar_

As she read it, she could feel the sting of tears prickling at her eyes as fresh ones flew out freely. Back when they were in a relationship in high school Riley had cried in his arms about their lives changing, leaving this place behind someday, forgetting all about it while probably separating from all their friends and her fears about the uncertainty of their future together. Lucas finally convinced her that it wasn't the place exactly that brought the feelings but the people she shared it with and, for good measure he scratched the inscription underneath the bench for her just so a piece of their childhood would physically be here for as long as the school existed.

"oh, Lucas I can't believe I forgot this" she got up and hugged him tightly as she laughed and cried at the same time. "you're really corny dude you know that right"

"what can I say, I was feeling poetic. Come on you know we're not done" he got up pulling up and this time she knew exactly where he was dragging her to

They got to the landing on the ground totally oblivious to the figure watching them from the entrance. Lucas held on to Riley's hand the whole time searching for the spot he had scraped his initials on somewhere close to the middle of the court.

"Remember junior prom. we were standing riiiiight here" he said holding on to both her waste now like he did before, as he positioned her where she had been standing on that prom night all those years ago "I promised you, Riley Grace, when the day would come that you'll be all sulky and sappy about missing this place that I would bring you back here and point right there" he gestured to the place they had just come from "and then I'd see the look on your face when you say…."

"the friends we made make the moments more special. Hold on to them"

"Now who's corny"

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you could predict the future Friar" at this point both were laughing hysterically holding on to each other without noticing

"You could say that. Riles you have made an incredible life for yourself, just think about all the stories you told me of all your adventures around the world. Granted the perps responsible for vandalising school property never got the chance to share a last name, I am still so proud of the woman you became instead. And I know you probably don't want to talk about it but I'm kinda glad I got a chance to have a last kiss with this version of you" he was looking her straight in eyes without any form of hesitation or resistance with so much love and adoration. They were holding on to each other now, standing so close, breathing in the other as the sparks flowed through them. Neither wanting to break this moment, voicelessly making the same wish.

"but what if I would have preferred my life to go in a different direction. You know, the direction were the perps got to share a last name like the rest of our friends do" Riley said

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!"

A sudden chill struck Riley, flowing right underneath her skin, pulsing through her spine.

She didn't move.

She couldn't look away either

Like a deer caught in head light she stood, stuck in the same position, holding on to Lucas

it was almost like her brain was trying to convince her that it was Lucas who responded but it wasn't him. There was no possible way for her brain to rationalise a possibility where it was Lucas who responded. But it wasn't him. It wasn't his voice, his lips didn't move, she knew that much because she had been staring at it throughout the conversation, he's expression stayed the same only turning his head once to see whose voice it was because he heard it too and he didn't know whom the third voice belonged to.

But she did know. She knew whom the voice belonged to and she refused to believe he was physically here, hence her frozen state

"What the hell Riley, are you shitting with me? I go out of town for a few days and here you are wishing to share a last name with another dude" said a livid Nathan

"Calm down we were just talking" Lucas said

Now Riley heard Lucas' voice. She just noticed how echoic everything around her sounded, as the scene in front of her unfolded; Lucas and Nathan going back and forth. He was apparently trying to talk their way out of this mess. She couldn't see how though, he probably heard the whole conversation, he just heard his supposed girlfriend wishing she was married to someone else. He just heard the 'someone else' help her confess to cheating. How do you come back from that?

"are you guys fucking already?

Silence

"Riley? you're not gonna say anything"

More silence and still no movement

"Fuck this" Nathan concluded as he turned and marched back to the exit

"Riles, are you okay? Let me take you home" Lucas voice seemed to bring her back

"I'm so sorry" those were the words stuck on her tongue that she couldn't get out the whole time "I have to go after him"

"what?"

"I'm so sorry. I have to" she said as she finally broke free from his grasp walking as fast as her feet would carry her


End file.
